Pulmonary Embolism in Long Standing Diabetes: A Hint Towards Pancreatic Carcinoma

Pancreatic carcinoma has remained one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Cancer originating in the head of pancreas is often detected early in the disease due to biliary obstruction resulting in jaundice. In contrast, cancer of the pancreatic body and tail remains indolent, presenting late with significantly increased tumor burden and distant metastasis. Unfortunately, a single laboratory screening study is neither sensitive nor specific for early detection of pancreatic cancer. In this report, we present a patient with longstanding diabetes incidentally detected to have pancreatic tail carcinoma while presenting with pulmonary embolism, emphasizing the need for pancreatic cancer screening studies in population with longstanding diabetes.