Dr Prem Global Healthcare Logo

Surgery offers hope for pancreatic cancer patients

surgery for pancreatic cancer 246

Surgery offers hope for pancreatic cancer patients, a new study has found. The operation is complicated and tricky but safe and can enhance the life of the patient to further five years.

The study undertaken by Dr. Mark Talamonti is based on an analysis of a national cancer database maintained by the American College of Surgeons. The research will appear in the August edition of Annals of Surgery, found that nearly 40% of the patients with early pancreatic cancer don’t get the operation, leaving them with grim chances of survival. And among those who get themselves operated at an early stage, 30% have chance of surviving for a further five-year period.

Pancreatic cancer is a formidable disease, and depending on the extent of the tumor at the time of diagnosis, the prognosis is considred as poor, with only few victims still alive 5 years after diagnosis. But, the study has shown that if the disease is detected in the initial stage, where the disease has not spread beyond pancreas, at least there is reasonable hope with surgery.

The study found that among the 9,559 with early-stage disease, only 38% or 3,644 patients do not avail surgery. Among them the Blacks, patients older than 65, and those with meager annual incomes and education were unlikely to be offered surgery.

Each year about 32,000 individuals in the United States are diagnosed with this disease, and more than 60,000 in Europe. This year alone, the disease is said to affect 37,000 Americans out of which about 33,000 will die.

The seven to eight hour-long operation called the Whipple procedure includes removing most or all of the pancreas, part of the intestine, entire gallbladder and part of bile duct. The surgery though dangerous, but if successful can significantly reduce the death rates caused by the disease considered to be the fourth major cause of cancer related deaths in the world.

The study also found the level of ignorance on the part of a vast number of doctors do not even refer their patients for surgery for lack of knowledge of the developments in the field. Moreover, lack of access to centers experienced in carrying out the surgery is a major hurdle.

However, the study directly refers the early-stage pancreatic cancer patients to surgery.

Image

Via: Msnbc

Recent Articles:

Scroll to Top