Pancreatic cancer treatment options
Pancreatic cancer is a complex disease. Our experts consider your test results, overall health and your personal wishes before developing a treatment plan. Many patients need a combination of therapies.
Pancreatic cancer treatment options include:
Surgery offers the best chance to cure pancreatic cancer. Penn is an ultra-high-volume center for pancreatic cancer surgeries, including the Whipple procedure. We have the specialized surgeons, operating room staff, nurses, and anesthesiologists to safely perform these complicated surgeries.
Our fellowship-trained cancer and vascular surgeons work together to perform complicated procedures to remove pancreatic tumors. Our exceptional expertise allows us to treat even the most complex cases, such as tumors that have invaded critical blood vessels.
Your doctor may recommend you take medications (such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapies) to treat pancreatic cancer. Our specialists often recommend one or a combination of these therapies to shrink a tumor before surgery.
More effective cancer medications are shrinking tumors significantly, making surgery an option for more people than ever before.
Medical oncology treatments include:
Radiation therapies direct high-intensity energy beams at cancer cells to stop them from growing or spreading. Penn offers the latest radiation therapy innovations, including powerfully precise therapies like proton therapy that few other centers in the region offer. Read more about radiation oncology at Penn.
Penn pioneered the world’s first approved CAR T-cell therapy, an immunotherapy that harnesses the power of your immune system to stop cancer. Our continued research may offer you more treatment options, including new therapies available only through clinical trials. Find out about GI cancer clinical trials.
Supportive oncology services take care of your whole health. We help you manage the many ways cancer or treatment can impact your well-being. Your care team can connect you with the vast resources available to you, such as nutrition guidance, emotional support and expert symptom management.