Help for pancreatic cancer patientsCommon treatments for containing pancreatic cancer include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. In most cases, a combination of a couple of these treatments may be used to enhance effectiveness.

Surgery

Surgery aims at removing the tumor where possible. However, in most cases, the cancer will have spread so much that cancer can’t help to remove all of it. Where surgery helps to remove all the cancer, the patient can live longer. However, even if surgery is successful, the cancer can still come back. If one surgeon tells you that your pancreatic cancer has spread so much that surgery is not possible, it is good that you consider contacting another pancreatic cancer surgeon for a second opinion. The surgical procedure for pancreatic cancer usually comprise of:

  • Whipple procedure: this is essentially the most common surgical procedure for pancreatic cancer. Part of your pancreas, part of your small intestine, part of your stomach and common bile duct and the gallbladder may be removed by the surgeon.
  • Distal pancreatectomy: a part of the spleen and pancreas is removed.
  • Total pancreatectomy: here, the whole of the pancreas is removed together with a part of your stomach, part of small intestine, part of stomach, the gallbladder, the spleen, the bile duct and even lymph nodes at the nearby.

Chemotherapy

Sometimes known as chemo, chemotherapy makes use of medicine to have the cancerous cells destroyed. Chemo uses drugs, which can also affect other healthy cells and even cause side effects as well. Common drugs used are fluorouracil and gemcitabine. The common side effects experienced include loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, mouth sores, hair loss and low blood counts that could increase risks of bleeding and infection.

Radiation

There are some kinds of pancreatic tumors that are best treated by radiation. In most cases, external radiation is often used and can at times be combined with chemotherapy and surgery. Side effects of radiation include extreme tiredness, skin darkening on the areas, hair loss around the treated area, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea and nausea, painless of belly fullness and pain. The tumor can also be shrunk through radiation to control the pain and ensure that other organs and the nerves are not pressed.

 

Clinical trials

You can also discuss with your doctor regarding participating in clinical trials. For some pancreatic cancer patients, clinical trials are the best choice of treatment to consider. Biologic therapy which fights the cancer by using your immune system is one of the treatments that clinical trials are looking at nowadays.

Supportive cancer

In case the pancreatic cancer is at the advanced stage, your doctor might advise you not to opt for any treatments due to the fact that the side effects and costs of the treatment and even time factor could exceed the benefits. This might be a difficult decision to make, but it could be worthy at times.