Living Longer: Early Stage/ Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

At diagnosis, less than 20% patients with pancreatic cancer can be resected due to late presentations and advance nature of the disease. However, even in early stages and resectable pancreatic cancer, the average survival is between 15 months - 24 months. Standard of care was for immediate surgical resection if tumor is resectable. Aim is …

Living Longer: Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer (2)

If the locally advanced pancreatic cancer is unresectable, what other option does the patient has? As clinical oncologist, it's nice to have another arsenal against cancer; radiotherapy. Pre-operative chemo-radiation is effective in locally advanced pancreatic cancer to convert it from borderline resectable/ unresectable to resectable. By giving chemotherapy and radiotherapy together, studies showed that up to …

Living Longer: Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer (I)

Introduction Locally advanced pancreatic cancer: Pancreatic cancer that is inoperable or borderline inoperable, normally due to tumor proximity or invasion to adjacent major blood vessels Consists of 35% of pancreatic cancer at diagnosis 15% have resectable disease Stage I, II and 50% have metastatic disease Stage IV Have slightly longer survival compared to cancer that …