Treatment options for pancreatic cancer continued
Surgery
If the cancer is at an early stage, then there is a modest chance that surgery can be curative. (An early stage means a small tumour which is confined to within the pancreas and has not spread to the lymph nodes or other areas of the body).
- If the tumour is in the head of the pancreas then an operation to remove the head of the pancreas may be an option. This is a long and involved operation as the surrounding structures such as the duodenum, stomach, bile duct, etc, need to be rearranged once the head of the pancreas is removed.
- If the tumour is in the body or tail of the pancreas then removal of the affected section of the pancreas is sometimes an option.
The reason why the chance of cure is only modest is because in a number of cases thought to be in an early stage, some cells have already spread to other parts of the body but are not yet detectable by scans or other staging tests. In time they grow into secondary tumours.
If the cancer is at a later stage then surgery is not an option to cure the disease. Some surgical techniques may still have a place to ease symptoms. For example, it may be possible to ease jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct. A 'bypass' procedure may be used, or a stent may be inserted into the bile duct. (A stent is a small rigid tube made of plastic or metal which aims to keep a duct or channel open. It is usually inserted by instruments attached to an endoscope.)
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells or stops them from multiplying. See separate leaflet called 'Chemotherapy' for more details. When chemotherapy is used in addition to surgery it is known as 'adjuvant chemotherapy'. For example, following surgery you may be given a course of chemotherapy. This aims to kill any cancer cells which may have spread away from the primary tumour.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is a treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation which are focused on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops cancer cells from multiplying. See separate leaflet called 'Radiotherapy' for more details. Radiotherapy is not commonly used to treat pancreatic cancer.
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laura jackson, over 2 years
i have read and i cant understand anything my dad has said he has pancreatic cancer i wanted to see about treatment, what it would do to him will he die if he has no treatment if he doesnt how long i think he has not yet done anything about it he does not like hospitals and he is probely in late stage help me find out this info.
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