Pancreatic cancer

Treatment

At Mayo Clinic, highly skilled specialists dedicated solely to pancreas care work as a team to develop comprehensive treatment programs for people with all stages of pancreatic cancer. Treatment depends on the location and extent of the cancer, your age, overall health and personal preferences.

Surgery

Surgery may be an option if the cancer is confined to the pancreas. Pancreatic cancer surgery done by experienced specialists lowers the risk of surgical complications. Mayo Clinic's skilled surgeons offer a number of procedures, such as:

• Whipple procedure. Also known as a pancreatoduodenectomy (pan-kree-uh-toe-doo-oh-duh-NEK-tuh-me), the Whipple procedure is the most common surgery for pancreatic cancer. Mayo Clinic specialists have extensive experience performing this procedure.
• Minimally invasive surgery. If you are an appropriate candidate, Mayo Clinic surgeons may perform the Whipple procedure using minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery that is done through a series of small incisions in the abdominal wall.
• Total and distal pancreatectomies. Mayo Clinic surgeons offer other options for pancreatic cancer, including total pancreatectomy, which removes the entire pancreas, along with the gallbladder, part of the stomach and small intestine, the bile duct, spleen, and nearby lymph nodes; and distal pancreatectomy, in which the body and tail of the pancreas are removed. If the tumor is attached to the portal vein (which conveys blood to the liver), Mayo surgeons have the expertise to remove and reconstruct the entire portal vein.

Radiation, chemotherapy and other therapies

Your health care team may determine that you'd benefit from radiation, chemotherapy or other therapies. Here are a few examples:

• Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). Pioneered by Mayo Clinic doctors, this procedure delivers radiation during surgery, allowing doctors to treat tumors with high doses of radiation without harming nearby organs.
• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This advanced type of radiation treatment uses hundreds of small radiation beams of varying intensities to precisely target cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue.
• Chemoradiation. At Mayo Clinic, radiation is almost always given along with chemotherapy (chemoradiation) for tumors that can't be removed. It's also used before or after surgery to reduce the size of tumors and destroy cancer cells that may have spread beyond the pancreas.
• Innovative therapies through clinical trials. Mayo's clinical trials include experimental treatments for pancreatic cancer, often unavailable elsewhere.

Palliative care

Palliative care is an area of health care that specializes in helping to manage symptoms and other discomfort caused by the cancer or cancer treatment, regardless of the stage of the cancer. Mayo Clinic palliative care specialists work with your other team members to provide the best support and symptom management for you and your family, including social, psychological and spiritual needs.

Read more about pancreatic cancer treatment.