Paradigm Shifting of Systemic Chemotherapy for Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer in Japan

Systemic Chemotherapy in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal cancers. These patients often have multiple symptoms, and integrated supportive care is critical in helping them remain well for as long as possible. Fluorouracil-based chemotherapy is known to improve overall survival (OS) by approximately 3 months, compared to the best supportive care alone. A 1997 study comparing gemcitabine and fluorouracil t...

Choledochoduodenostomy for palliation in unresectable pancreatic cancer.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether choledochoduodenostomy provides adequate long-term palliation of obstructive jaundice in unresectable pancreatic cancer. DESIGN Consecutive case series. SETTING Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS From 1980 to 1997, 79 consecutive patients (45 men, 34 women; mean age, 67.8 years) with biopsy-proved pancreatic cancer found to be unresectable at operation. IN...

Challenge for Treatment of Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer

Patients with pancreatic cancer have an especially poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of < 1% and a median survival of 4-6 months. The management of patients with pancreatic cancer depends on the extent of the disease at diagnosis. However, at the time of diagnosis the vast majority of pancreatic cancers are at an advanced disease state, and surgical resection with curative intent is i...

Treatment of unresectable pancreatic cancer.

Locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer.

Twenty-five percent of patients with pancreatic cancer present with locally advanced disease that is unresectable, and the treatment strategy for these patients is controversial, with options including chemotherapy alone, concurrent chemoradiation, or induction chemotherapy followed by chemoradiation. Abstracts presented at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (#...