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More Medical Speculation About What Steve Jobs May Be Facing

Jan 18, 2011  •  Post A Comment

With Apple CEO Steve Jobs not being specific about why he’s taking another leave of absence for medical reasons, "many experts say it’s likely that his leave is related to his ongoing treatment for pancreatic cancer," ABC News is reporting.

What is known about Jobs is that he’s had surgery for pancreatic cancer in the past, and that he’s had a liver transplant.

Says the ABC News story, "Experts say the length of his survival is mainly because he had a slow-growing, rare cancer called a pancreatic neuroendocrine islet cell tumor. While experts say neuroendocrine cancers are known to spread to the liver, Jobs remained private about his condition and the reason behind his transplant."

The story goes on to say, "Neuroendocrine tumors are slow-growing, but frequently metastasize to the liver. Researchers say that appears to be what happened to Jobs, who underwent a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., in April 2009."

The article quotes one doctor who treats patients with pancreatic cancer as saying that even after a liver transplant "the likelihood of recurrence ‘is still really high.’ "

The ABC News article adds, "Still, it is not clear why Jobs is taking this leave, his third since 2004. Aside from tumor recurrence, he could also be dealing with organ rejection or a possible hormone imbalance if the tumor is active." 

 

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