Chronic Pancreatitis

What is Chronic Pancreatitis?

Chronic pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that does not heal or improve. Over time, the condition worsens and leads to permanent damage that will eventually impair your ability to digest food and make pancreatic hormones.

How do I know if I have Chronic Pancreatitis?

Most individuals with chronic pancreatitis experience upper abdominal pain, although some have no pain at all. This pain may spread to the back, become worse with eating or drinking, or become constant and disabling. In some cases, the abdominal pain goes away as the condition worsens, but this is fairly uncommon. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, weight loss (even when eating habits are normal), diarrhea, oily or fatty stools or clay-colored or pale stools.

See your general practitioner or gastroenterologist immediately if you have these symptoms and are concerned. There are several tests and scans that he/she can perform.

How did I get Chronic Pancreatitis?

Chronic pancreatitis most often develops in patients between the ages of 30 and 40, but can occur at any age, even childhood. Some common causes include heavy alcohol use, autoimmune conditions, genetic mutations due to cystic fibrosis, blocked pancreatic duct or common bile duct and/or those a family history of the disease.

What if Chronic Pancreatitis goes untreated?

Chronic pancreatitis damages the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. This may cause diabetes, calcification of the pancreas, long-term pain, gallstones, kidney failure, pancreatic cancer and continuous acute flare-ups. The earlier a procedure is performed the more pain-free years you will have.

What is it?

The only cure for chronic pancreatitis is a total pancreatectomy (TP). However, TP raises other risks including diabetes mellitus, exocrine insufficiency and the risks associated with a major surgery. The addition of islet auto transplant (IAT) after a TP can mitigate some of these risks.

How does it work?

Dr. Hughes works closely with Koligo Therapeutics whose mission is to develop, manufacture and commercialize transformative cell therapies for the treatment of pancreatic diseases. Koligo produces pancreatic islets called Kyslecel that are put back into your body after surgery to produce the insulin needed to regulate your blood sugar.

What’s involved?

During TP-IAT, Dr. Hughes will carefully prepare your pancreas to assure that blood supply is maintained as long as possible to preserve the function of your pancreatic islets. Your pancreas will be shipped to Koligo’s production facility by a specialized courier according to the same procedures used for organ donation. Koligo will promptly make Kyslecel from your own pancreatic islets and send it back to Dr. Hughes – usually the next day. Because your pancreas has been permanently removed, you will need to take oral pancreatic enzymes for life. These enzymes are critical for your body to digest fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. They also play an important role in the absorption of many vitamins. If you are not already taking pancreatic enzymes, then Dr. Hughes will start these when you resume eating after surgery.

What can I expect?

The outcomes for insulin independence vary widely from patient-to-patient. All patients are temporarily diabetic as the islets engraft and recover from the procedure. Some patients who receive Kyslecel can come off all insulin, some stay on one dose of long-acting insulin, and some require multiple doses of insulin every day. This operation is most appropriate for those patients who are willing to trade the pain of chronic pancreatitis for diabetes, with the hope that diabetes may only be temporary.

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