MedicineWorld.org Oncology - Cancer - Pancreas Cancer: treatment
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Treatment of pancreas cancer

Surgery
Early stages (stages I and II) of pancreas cancer are usually treated with surgery. Sometimes surgery may be an option for stage III pancreas cancer. Surgery is the only treatment that may result in cure of pancreas cancer. Some times in stage III pancreas cancer radiation therapy and or chemotherapy may be given prior to surgery with an idea to shrink the tumor size to make it amenable to surgery. Chemotherapy and or radiation therapy may be given after surgery of the pancreas cancer to decrease the chance of the cancer coming back.

Treatment for patients for whom surgery is not an option
Patients for whom surgery is not an option because of spread of the tumor locally (stage III) treatment with combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be an option. If the tumor has spread to distant organs, chemotherapy is the usual treatment and radiation therapy is generally not an option.

What are the chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of pancreas cancer?
Most commonly used chemotherapy drugs for pancreas cancer include Gemcitabine (Gemzar), Fluorouracil (5FU), Cisplatin, and Mitomycin (Mitomycin C Kyoma). Other promising drugs for pancreatic cancer include Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), Irinotecan (Captosar, CPT-11).

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Pancreatic cancer: Resources

Pancreatic cancer treatment
Treatment Options By Stage   (National Cancer Institute)
Treatment   (Mayo clinic)
The Whipple Procedure   (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
What can be done if surgery is not possible?   (National Pancreas Foundation)
What is chemotherapy?   (CancerBacup)
How is Pancreatic Cancer treated?   (National Pancreas Foundation)
Treatment Options for Recurrent Pancreatic Cancer   (Cancer information)
Other treatments   (CancerBacup)
What types of treatment are used?   (CancerBacup)
Surgery   (CancerBacup)
Radiotherapy   (CancerBacup)
Chemotherapy   (CancerBacup)
What is the surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer?   (Pancreatica.org)
What is the medical treatment of pancreatic cancer?   (Pancreatica.org)
What are emerging therapies in regard to the treatment of pancreatic cancer?   (Pancreatica.org)
Surgical Treatment and Research   (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
Medical Treatment and Research   (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
Can Pancreatic Cancer be treated surgically? How?   (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
Can Pancreatic Cancer be treated medically? How?   (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
Surgery for pancreatic cancer   (National Institute of Health)
Radiation therapy for pancreatic cancer   (National Institute of Health)
Chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer   (National Institute of Health)
Treatment statement for Patients   (National Cancer Institute)
How is pancreatic cancer treated?   (National Institute of Health)
Preparing for Treatment   (National Institute of Health)
How is pancreatic cancer treated?   (National Institute of Health)
Side Effects of Treatment   (National Institute of Health)

Chemotherapy drugs used in pancreatic cancer
Gemcitabine (Gemzar)   (CancerBacup)
Fluorouracil (5FU)   (CancerBacup)
Cisplatin   (CancerBacup)
Mitomycin (Mitomycin C)   (CancerBacup)

Pancreatic cancer: Selected reading

100 Questions & Answers About Pancreatic Cancer
by Eileen O'Reilly, Joanne Frankel Kelvin
The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Pancreatic Cancer
by Icon Health Publications