Questions about jaundice?
If you have any questions about jaundice and how it’s managed, you can speak to our specialist nurses on our Support Line.
Treating jaundice if you have pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer can cause jaundice, but there are ways to treat it.
What are the symptoms of jaundice?
Jaundice can cause:
- yellow eyes and skin
- an itchy feeling
- dark pee and pale poo
- loss of appetite
- feeling or being sick.
Yellow skin may be less obvious if you have brown or black skin, but you may notice the white part of your eyes looks yellow. You can see photographs of jaundice on the NHS website.
Some people may also get pain underneath the ribs that spreads to the back or have a high temperature.
Why does pancreatic cancer cause jaundice?
- Pancreatic cancer causes jaundice by blocking your bile duct.
- This is called obstructive jaundice.
- Your bile duct is the tube that takes bile from your liver to your duodenum (first part of the small intestine).
Diagram showing the cancer blocking the bile duct
Bile is a fluid which your liver makes to help you digest food. It contains a yellow substance called bilirubin. If your bile duct is blocked, it can cause a build-up of bilirubin in your blood. This can lead to jaundice.
How is jaundice treated?
Watch specialist nurse, Jeni, explain how jaundice is treated. The video also features Becki, who shares her experience of jaundice and having a stent.
Our specialist nurse, Jeni, explains why pancreatic cancer can cause jaundice and how it's treated. Becki talks about having jaundice and having a stent put in.
If your cancer can be removed with surgery and you are having surgery straight away, the surgery will treat the jaundice.
If you aren’t fit enough yet for surgery, or you can’t have surgery straightaway, you may need to have a small tube put into your bile duct. his is called a stent. This should open up the blockage and treat the jaundice. Read more about stents to treat jaundice.
It may take around two to three weeks for your jaundice to go completely, and you may still feel tired, itchy and not have much appetite. Most people will see some improvement quite quickly even if the jaundice has not completely gone.
Speak to your doctor or nurse if you have symptoms of jaundice. It’s important that it is treated.
Speak to our nurses
Is jaundice a sign of pancreatic cancer?
Sometimes, jaundice is one of the first signs that you may have pancreatic cancer. Read more about this.
Is jaundice a sign of advanced pancreatic cancer?
You can have jaundice at any stage of pancreatic cancer, or not at all. It depends on where the cancer is in your pancreas.
References and acknowledgements
References
Email us at publications@pancreaticcancer.org.uk for references to the sources of information used to write this information.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following people who reviewed our information on treating jaundice if you have pancreatic cancer.
- Dawn Elliot, Lead UGI/CUP Clinical Nurse, Wansbeck General Hospital
- Giuseppe Kito Fusai, MS FRCS Consultant Hepato-pancreato-biliary Surgeon, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Lena Loia, Lead Surgical HPB CNS, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Pancreatic Cancer UK Specialist Nurses
Published July 2025
Review date July 2028