Long-term survival after pancreatic cancer treatment - 21/08/11
Abstract |
Pancreatic cancer is a nearly lethal disease. Patients have such a poor prognosis because there are no early symptoms. Upon presentation, most patients already have regional and systemic spread of the disease. With cure rates below 3%, long-term survival is difficult to measure. Thus, the assessment of clinical benefit has been based not only on observed 5-year survival but more frequently on actuarial, median, and disease-free survival. Surgery remains the only hope for cure, but median survival remains low despite improvements in peri- and postoperative treatment of complications and sharp decreases in perioperative morbidity and mortality. The addition of adjuvant chemo- and radiotherapy has provided a survival advantage of 6 to 10 months (increasing median survival to 20 months). However, the long-term benefit, if any, is still to be determined. Neoadjuvant therapies are also undergoing evaluation, but their role has not yet been established. True long-term survival may ultimately depend on the development of screening tools that will allow early detection (before regional and systemic spread) of this lethal disease.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Pancreatic cancer, Long-term survival, Early detection
Plan
Vol 194 - N° 4S
P. S127-S130 - octobre 2007 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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