Surgery

Whether or not the cancer can be completely removed surgically will determine the course of treatment for pancreatic cancer. The only known treatment for pancreatic cancer is total surgical resection of the cancer. Only 15-20% of people with pancreatic cancer have disease that can be surgically removed at the time of diagnosis.Cancer that is localized may be completely removed and thereby considered resectable. IfThe cancer is regarded as unresectable if all of it could not be surgically removed or if doing so would not be safe.

The features of unresectable pancreatic cancer include the following:

• The cancer has spread (metastasized) outside of the pancreas to other organs (for example, liver or lungs).
• The cancer is wrapped around one of the major blood vessels near the pancreas.

If the cancer is resectable and if no other health issues exist that make the surgery unsafe, then a surgeon attempts to remove the cancer.