Onkologie. 2016:10(4):185-188 | DOI: 10.36290/xon.2016.040

Radiotherapy in treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Vladimír Rak, Petr Pospíšil

Klinika radiační onkologie LF MU, Masarykův onkologický ústav, Brno

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the most feared oncological diagnoses and its incidence is on the rise. The main difficulty

is a lack of effective treatment options. Even when deploying all standard cancer treatments, long term survival is not a common

phenomenon. Surgery is a mainstay of treatment, there is hardly any doubt about it. It is still the only curable treatment modality.

Role of chemotherapy is also largely clear. Even in the early stage of disease, there is a certain risk of tumor dissemination and

chemotherapy is the only way how to deal with this issue. The role of radiotherapy is less clear. Large amount of scientific data was

published, disscusing the use of radiotherapy in pancreatic cancer, but results are still indeterminate. Further uncertainty about

appropriateness of treatment stems from anatomical localization of pancreas, which is surrounded by radiosensitive tissues. An

obvious example of this issue are different guidelines between Europe and America. The aim of this article is to summarize the

main studies and to discuss in which stages of pancreatic cancer is radiotherapy an appropriate treatment option.

Keywords: pancreatic adenocarcinoma, radiotherapy, chemotherapy

Published: August 1, 2016  Show citation