Mayo Clinic's approach

  • Multidisciplinary team. Mayo Clinic doctors from several specialties collaborate to provide coordinated, comprehensive care. Specialized cancer surgeons (surgical oncologists), gastroenterologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and other experts provide comprehensive, individualized care for people considering or being recommended to undergo the Whipple procedure.
  • Individualized approach. At Mayo Clinic, your care team develops a treatment plan suited to your exact situation. In each case, the goals are to improve recovery, quality of life and cancer outcomes. Your care is coordinated by one physician, often a surgical oncologist, which ensures continuity from diagnosis through surgery. The surgical, anesthesia and nursing teams at Mayo Clinic are dedicated to making your surgery and hospital stay as pleasant and comfortable as possible.

  • Surgical expertise. Mayo Clinic surgeons are experts in the Whipple procedure, every variation of it, as well as other pancreatic operations. Each surgeon has specialized and extensive training and experience with Whipple procedures and other pancreatic operations. Studies show that choosing an experienced surgeon reduces your risk of complications.

    Surgeons at Mayo Clinic can often perform these pancreatic operations using either laparoscopic or robotic techniques that have been shown to allow for a faster recovery in select patients.

  • Innovative treatments. Mayo Clinic experts pioneered a treatment approach for people with borderline, locally advanced pancreatic cancer, also called advanced stage 3 cancer. This treatment has been shown to help people who were previously told that surgery wasn't an option. People eligible for this protocol receive chemotherapy with new highly effective drugs, followed by radiation and complex surgeries previously not thought possible. This tailored approach has increased the number of people who may safely benefit from surgery.

Expertise and rankings

Comprehensive cancer center

Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center meets strict standards for a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center. These standards recognize scientific excellence and a multidisciplinary approach to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Innovation and research

Mayo Clinic researchers conduct studies and clinical trials to improve the Whipple procedure and other approaches to pancreatic cancer. Mayo Clinic is a leader in the minimally invasive (laparoscopic) approach to the Whipple procedure and is one of the few medical centers offering it.

The frequent collaboration among Mayo Clinic researchers, oncologists, surgeons, pathologists and others generates a full spectrum of research projects. For example, researchers study the benefits of combining PET and MRI radiologic imaging techniques to help surgeons determine which patients are responding to chemotherapy and therefore might significantly benefit from surgery.

Using large national data sets, investigators are learning about how best to sequence therapy for people with cancer to get the best long-term survival. They also are working on decreasing complications in older adults undergoing Whipple procedures and determining how to treat rare pancreatic tumors.

At Mayo Clinic, you may have access to clinical trials, research and new approaches to treatment.

Nationally recognized expertise

The Whipple procedure is a complex operation that requires highly skilled and extensively trained surgeons with specific expertise and understanding of the cancers and diseases that affect the pancreas. Mayo Clinic surgeons are specially trained to provide you with the best care, and they perform more than 500 Whipple procedures and related surgeries each year. Mayo Clinic's operating mortality rates are among the lowest in the country.

Mayo Clinic has been recognized as a top cancer hospital by U.S. News & World Report since it began publishing rankings in 1990. Most recently, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, have been recognized among the top Cancer hospitals in the nation for 2023-2024 by U.S. News & World Report.

Locations, travel and lodging

Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.

For more information on visiting Mayo Clinic, choose your location below:

Costs and insurance

Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.

In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.

Learn more about appointments at Mayo Clinic.

Please contact your insurance company to verify medical coverage and to obtain any needed authorization prior to your visit. Often, your insurer's customer service number is printed on the back of your insurance card.

By Mayo Clinic Staff