New Treatment Found For Pancreatic Cancer

A new treatment has been discovered for pancreatic cancer by researchers belonging to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, according to the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

As many as half the patients who were studied responded to the therapy which is reported to be a very high figure. The therapy contributes towards reducing the size of the tumors in addition to reducing the risk of the disease recurring. Reducing the size of the tumor helps people to undergo surgery who were formerly categorized as inoperable. As there are very few symptoms in the case of pancreatic cancer, early detection is very difficult. Removing the entire tumor is the only way to treat the disease. The treatment developed by oncologist J. Marc Pipas reduces the size of the tumor by administering radiation and chemotherapy first, after which it can be surgically be removed. As many as 50% of the tumors had shrunk as a result of the treatment. In the case of one patient who was considered inoperable, the tumor had disappeared altogether. As many as 24 patients were treated in the Norris Cotton Cancer Center trial with a high dosage of chemotherapy of gemcitabine and docetaxel followed by a combination of gemcitabine and radiation. Half the tumors shrank after the treatment, according to reports, and in the case of one patient, the tumor disappeared altogether. Seventeen of the patients who were studied, later underwent an operation. No local progression or recurrence were reported among the patients who were treated. (ANI)