Pancreas Cancer Treatment

A Dedicated Pancreas Cancer Treatment Team

Even though pancreas cancer is relatively rare in the United States, the number of people with this cancer type is increasing. Pancreas cancer is now the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths despite efforts to improve treatment. Most physicians or general surgeons see only a few patients with pancreatic tumors.

At Roswell Park, our unique Liver and Pancreas Tumor Center is dedicated to diagnosing and treating people with these complex tumors, seeing 125 pancreas cancer patients annually. Our treatment team consists of surgeons, oncologists and allied health providers whose main focus is pancreas cancer. Studies show that treatment by such cancer-dedicated team results in the best outcome in terms of survival and quality of life.

More Options, Better Outcomes: How We Treat Pancreas Cancer

When the pancreas cancer team meets to review and discuss your case, they will determine the very best treatment options for you, which will factor in:

• Your tumor's location in the pancreas
• Whether the cancer has spread
• Your age and general health

Pancreas cancer treatment is challenging for a number of reasons. The pancreas is next to critical nerves and blood vessels; it grows stealthily and genetic research shows one patient’s cancer can be very different from another’s, and so is their response to treatment." - Wen Wee Ma, MBBS

Most pancreas cancers require multi-modality treatment, which means your treatment plan is likely to include two or more of these treatment approaches:

• Surgery
• Radiation
• Medical Therapy

Investigative Approaches

The need for new and better pancreatic cancer treatments remains urgent. Your Roswell Park cancer care team can offer you access to treatments you may not have through other cancer care providers. Some of our current work includes:

• The development of new drugs for pancreas cancer
• Finding new ways to use existing cancer drugs or therapies
• The discovery of new targets or pathways to attack the cancer

Learn more about our current clinical research studies involving pancreatic cancer.

In addition to working with Roswell Park scientists, we have teamed up with international groupings including the Pancreatic Cancer Research Team and the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (previously Cancer and Leukemia Group B) to rapidly bring new treatments to our patients.