Present Status of Management of Cancer Pancreas: A Brief Review

Cancer pancreas is an aggressive cancer with dismal prognosis. Smoking, chronic pancreatitis increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. It usually presents late. Accurate staging is important as curative resection is the only curative treatment. Contrast enhanced multi slice CT scan and Endoscopic ultrasonography are important for diagnosis. Resection is possible in only approximately 10-20% patients. Whipples operation or pylorus preserving pancreato-duodenectomy is the preferred treatment. Post operative chemotherapy with gemcitabine may be helpful. After resection the median survival is 11-20% and 5 year survival is 7-25%