PANCREATIC CANCER: IS THE SURGEON STILL RELEVANT?

Abstract

Despite advances in multimodal therapy, surgery remains central to the management of patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Complete surgical clearance of disease offers the only real, albeit slim, chance of cure. For the greater proportion of patients with resectable macroscopic but occult microscopic disease, who ultimately recur early, short-term outcomes are still better compared to other currently available treatment modalities. Morbidity rates following pancreatic resection are worse than cancer surgery data for other intraabdominal sites however, and involved margins are an unsurprising predictor of poor oncological outcome. Patient selection is therefore key. Refinements..