Carcinoma of the Pancreas

Carcinoma of the pancreas remains a formidable challenge for clinicians. Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common type of new cancer, and according to estimates of the American Cancer Society, 29,000 new cases occurred in 1998. The relative frequency of the disease is compounded by its lethality. Pancreatic cancer accounts for 5% and 6% of cancer deaths among men and women respectively, making it the fourth leading site of cancer deaths. In 1998, an estimated 28,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer were expected. The five-year relative survival rate for pancreatic cancer between 1986 and 1993, as reported by the NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, was only 4%. Although this was a statistically significant increase from the 3% five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer between 1974 and 1976 it remained the lowest survival rate among all reported sites. By comparison, survival for gastric and esophageal cancers during the more recent reporting period were 19% and 12% respectively.