The Jobs-Pavarotti Connection
When Steve Jobs heard he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, he thought that it meant the end of the road. Indeed that would have been the case had it turned out to be the most common type of pancreatic cancer – adenocarcinoma. There are many subtypes of pancreatic cancers, categorized and differentiated based on the cell type determined under the microscope. The pancreas is made of a few types of cells which play a crucial role in the digestive system. Pancreatic adenocarcinomas (a-de-no-car-ci-nomas) are the most common, usually synonymous with the term "pancreatic cancer" or "pancreatic tumor". Pancreatic cancers has one of the worst outcomes even when compared to other cancers in general. 90% patients would not live beyond 12 months from the time of diagnosis, usually despite having surgical or medical treatment. Luciano Pavarotti is the most recent famous victim of pancreatic cancer – he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2006 and died in September 2007 despite having surgery and further unspecified treatment. The only known predisposing factors for pancreatic adenocarcinoma include smoking and family history.
Luck has it that Steve Jobs was diagnosed with a rare, and more importantly curable form of pancreatic tumor, neuroendocrine tumor. Neuroendocrine tumors are “midway” cancers between benign and malignant. They are considered “cancers in slow motion” because people afflicted with the tumors usually live for many years even though potentially fatal.
At Stanford’s Commencement two years ago, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers talked about his encounter with pancreatic tumor and the not so close encounter with the Creator. His doctor told him it was incurable and that he had three to six months to live. He told Steve to go home and get his affairs in order, say his goodbyes, make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for his family. Later that day they did a biopsy. The doctors viewed the cells under a microscope and found out Mr. Jobs had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.
Since then, as morbid as it sounds, Steve has not stopped thinking of death. He looks into the mirror every morning and tells himself “ This could be your last day, so make sure it counts”. “Your time is limited,” he told that graduating class, “so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you want to become. Everything else is secondary.”