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Pancreatic Cancer Surgery Five-Year Survivors 65 and Up Live Nearly as Long As Anyone
January 10, 2007A new study shows that pancreatic cancer patients 65 or older who live at least five years after surgery have nearly as good a chance as anyone else to live another five years.
Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia reviewed the records of 890 patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent the standard pancreaticoduodenectomy, or Whipple procedure, which entails the removal of the gallbladder, common bile duct, part of the duodenum, and the head of the pancreas, between 1970 and 1999 at Johns Hopkins University. They identified those who lived for five years, and compared those who lived for at least an additional five years to the "actuarial" - or estimated - survival of the general population beginning at age 70.
Reporting in the journal Surgery, they found that 201 patients (23 percent) lived five years after surgery, at least half of whom were 65 years old or older at the time of surgery. Of those five-year survivors, an estimated 65 percent lived at least an additional five years. In the general population, roughly 87 percent of the same age group live another five years.
The study has an important message, says Charles Yeo, M.D., Samuel Gross Professor and Chair of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College, who led the work. "A decade ago, many clinicians thought that there was little reason to operate on patients with pancreatic ductal cancer, that surgery does little to extend life and improve the quality of life," says Dr. Yeo. "Not too long ago, few lived for five years after diagnosis. Today that's not true. There's been a paradigm shift in the way we treat and think about this disease."
While only approximately 25 percent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer who undergo successful surgical "resection" of their disease live at least five years, overall, of those who live for five years after resection, some 55 percent will be alive at least another five years.
"The public hears 'pancreatic cancer' and thinks there's little hope and there isn't much to do. The good news is, with new imaging techniques, better early detection, improved screening of high-risk groups, and new therapies on the horizon, we're actually making great progress when it comes to pancreatic cancer. It's no longer a death sentence."
Pancreatic cancer, the fifth-leading cause of cancer death in this country, takes some 30,000 lives a year. It remains one of the deadliest cancers; only approximately 5 percent of all those with pancreatic cancer live one year after diagnosis, and only 1 percent are alive five years later.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
The study has an important message, says Charles Yeo, M.D., Samuel Gross Professor and Chair of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College, who led the work. "A decade ago, many clinicians thought that there was little reason to operate on patients with pancreatic ductal cancer, that surgery does little to extend life and improve the quality of life," says Dr. Yeo. "Not too long ago, few lived for five years after diagnosis. Today that's not true. There's been a paradigm shift in the way we treat and think about this disease."
While only approximately 25 percent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer who undergo successful surgical "resection" of their disease live at least five years, overall, of those who live for five years after resection, some 55 percent will be alive at least another five years.
"The public hears 'pancreatic cancer' and thinks there's little hope and there isn't much to do. The good news is, with new imaging techniques, better early detection, improved screening of high-risk groups, and new therapies on the horizon, we're actually making great progress when it comes to pancreatic cancer. It's no longer a death sentence."
Pancreatic cancer, the fifth-leading cause of cancer death in this country, takes some 30,000 lives a year. It remains one of the deadliest cancers; only approximately 5 percent of all those with pancreatic cancer live one year after diagnosis, and only 1 percent are alive five years later.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
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Radiation therapy is effective in achieving local control and palliation in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs), despite such tumors being commonly considered resistant to radiation therapy.
African-Americans with colorectal cancer have poorer outcomes, lower survival rates
New research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that African-American patients with colorectal cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease and are less likely to undergo surgical procedures compared with Caucasians, suggesting that improvements in screening and rates of operation may reduce differences in colorectal cancer outcomes for African-Americans.
Discovery offers potential new pancreatic cancer treatment
Tiny particles that can carry drugs and target cancer cells may offer treatment hope for those suffering with pancreatic cancer. New research to be presented in November at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles reveals that tumor-penetrating microparticles (TPM) have been specifically designed to break through hard-to-infiltrate barriers and deliver drugs more effectively and efficiently than the standard form of chemotherapy such as those injected through a vein.
Hepatitis B does not increase risk for pancreatic cancer
A Henry Ford Hospital study found that hepatitis B does not increase the risk for pancreatic cancer - and that only age is a contributing factor.
M. D. Anderson examines use of toad venom in cancer treatment
Huachansu, a Chinese medicine that comes from the dried venom secreted by the skin glands of toads, has tolerable toxicity levels, even at doses eight times those normally administered, and may slow disease progression in some cancer patients, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Pancreatic cancer: Researchers find drug that reverses resistance to chemotherapy
For the first time researchers have shown that by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called TAK-1, it is possible to make pancreatic cancer cells sensitive to chemotherapy, opening the way for the development of a new drug to treat the disease.
Endothelin-1 inhibitors in chronic pancreatitis
Fibrosis is a key feature of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The extensive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins fosters the development of an exocrine and endocrine organ insufficiency, and accelerates progression of the tumour.
Autoimmune response can induce pancreatic tumor rejection
Immune responses are capable of killing tumors before they can be directed toward normal body tissue, according to new scientific findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
MicroRNAs circulating in blood show promise as biomarkers to detect pancreatic cancer
A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease.
Blood-flow metabolism mismatch predicts pancreatic tumor aggressiveness
Researchers from Turku, Finland, have identified a blood-flow glucose consumption mismatch that predicted pancreatic tumor aggressiveness, according to results of a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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