Carcinoma of the pancreas--bypass versus resection?

The surgical treatment of carcinoma of the pancreas remains controversial. Over a 5-year period, 38 patients with histologically proven carcinoma of the pancreas who were operated on were studied to assess the length of survival. Seven were subjected to a 'curative' resection, 27 subjected to a palliative bypass procedure and four had a laparotomy and biopsy only. The mean survival was 8.7 months for the first group, 8.1 for the second and only 1.6 for those subjected to a laparotomy and biopsy only.