Can pancreatic cancer be treated?

But if it is caught early and the cancer hasn't spread beyond the pancreas, it can be treated with surgery. This offers the best outcome for pancreatic cancer. The surgery is called a "Whipple procedure," or pancreaticoduodenectomy, and is named after Dr. George Hoyt Whipple, the surgeon who pioneered it. read more

It can be hard to stage pancreatic cancer accurately using imaging tests. Doctors do their best to figure out before treatment if there is a good chance the cancer is resectable – that is, if it can be removed completely. read more

Pancreatic cancer, like most cancer is treated first with surgical removal of the tumor (called "resection") in which the surgeon removes as much as s/he can, followed by chemotherapy (called "adjunct therapy, meaning it comes after surgery). Go to PanCan (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) to get better information than I can ever tell you. read more