Pancreatic Cancer: Current Options for Diagnosis, Staging and Therapeutic Management

Pancreatic cancer is characterized by frequently delayed diagnosis and aggressive tumor growth which hampers most of the current treatment modalities. This review aims to summarize the available evidence about the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of resectable and non-resectable pancreatic cancer therapy.

Embedded in the concept of multimodal therapy, surgery plays the central role in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. With advantageous tumor characteristics and complete tumor resection as the most relevant positive prognostic factors, the detection of premalignant or early invasive lesions combined with safe and oncologic adequate surgery is the major therapeutic aim. Most pancreatic adenocarcinomas are locally advanced or metastatic when diagnosed and need to be treated by the combination of surgery and (radio)chemotherapy or by palliative chemotherapy.