[Carcinoma of the pancreatic head]

Focusing mainly on invasive ductal carcinoma of the pancreas, the history of radical surgery for this type of cancer is reviewed, including pancreatoduodenectomy, total pancreatectomy, extended radical surgery with main vascular resection and extended lymphadenectomy/retroperitoneal soft-tissue clearance, pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy. In addition, duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection, which has recently attracted attention in this field, as an operative technique for less-malignant, noninvasive intraductal papillary adenocarcinoma is also reviewed.