Surgical management of early-stage pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer remains a difficult disease to treat. Diagnosis at an early stage may allow curative treatment with resection. In the past, the mortality associated with surgical treatment of pancreatic carcinoma was prohibitive but mortality associated with resection is now commensurate with all other major oncologic resections. Thus, the focus of surgical management has shifted to address several issues: the diagnosis and evaluation of patients with suspected pancreatic cancer, the role of preoperative endobiliary stenting, the role of laparoscopy, the extent of resection, the role of adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatment, and the role of specialized centers in treating the disease.

The current literature is reviewed to address these issues and help guide physicians who first encounter patients with suspected pancreatic cancer as well as surgeons who ultimately resect them. Practical evidence-based information to guide the decision-making process is provided.

Surgical morbidity and mortality have achieved parity with other types of major oncologic resection, and a distinct survival advantage is possible when such therapy is applied early in the disease stage. Issues regarding the use of stents, extent of resection, and pre- vs post-operative chemoradiation therapy are becoming clearer as our collective experience broadens.

Surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer should be aggressively pursued given the clearly established survival advantage and relief of symptoms achieved when it is applied appropriately.