Treatments for pancreatic cancer
Your healthcare team will create a treatment plan just for you. The plan is based on your health, specific information about the cancer and the treatments available at your cancer centre or hospital. What you want is also important when planning treatment. When deciding which treatments to offer for pancreatic cancer, your healthcare team will consider:
- whether the cancer can be removed through surgery (is resectable)
- if genetic testing is available where you are
- the stage of the cancer
- possible side effects
- your age
- your overall health
- any medical problems you have
- your lifestyle and what you prefer or want
Surgery is the main treatment for resectable pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy, given on their own or during the same time period (chemoradiation), may be used first to try to shrink a borderline resectable tumour so that it can be surgically removed. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy or chemoradiation may also be given after surgery.
When pancreatic cancer cannot be surgically removed (is unresectable), treatment tries to control the growth of the tumour and any symptoms it may cause. A systemic therapy such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy is usually used as the first treatment. Some people will also have radiation therapy and palliative surgery.
Clinical trials will also be recommended to many people with pancreatic cancer.
Treatments for resectable pancreatic cancer
Treatments for borderline resectable pancreatic cancer
Treatments for unresectable pancreatic cancer
Treatments for recurrent pancreatic cancer
Surgery for pancreatic cancer
Chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer
Radiation therapy for pancreatic cancer
Targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer
Follow-up after treatment for pancreatic cancer
Your trusted source for accurate cancer information
With just $5 from readers like you, we can continue to provide the highest quality cancer information for over 100 types of cancer.
We’re here to ensure easy access to accurate cancer information for you and the millions of people who visit this website every year. But we can’t do it alone.
If everyone reading this gave just $5, we could achieve our goal this month to fund reliable cancer information, compassionate support services and the most promising research. Please give today because every contribution counts. Thank you.