“Is there a treatment for pancreatic cancer?”

You will need surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy or chemotherapy and radiation therapy if surgeon can not remove it.

There are several treatments. If the disease is in the tail of the pancreas surgery is the best treatment. If it is in the head or has spread, chemotherapy and immunotherapy can be used. See if your physicians have clinical trials in which you can participate.

Yes, there is increasingly effective treatment for pancreatic cancer. If it is localized to the pancreas, surgical therapy is the mainstay of treatment, often followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Sometimes we give chemotherapy before surgery to shrink it. If it is beyond the pancreas then chemotherapy and radiation are frequently needed. What is important is to find a center where there is a multi-disciplinary team of doctors that deal frequently with pancreatic cancer.

William L. Diehl, M.D., F.A.C.S.