Written by:
Dr. Luke Serck |
Written by:
Dr. Stephen Shapiro |
In Wisconsin, an estimated 660 cancer related deaths will occur from pancreatic cancer in 2006. There has been little change in the incidence of pancreatic cancer over the past 25 years. At Gundersen Lutheran we use teams of cancer care providers, advanced technology, and minimally invasive approaches to work aggressively when cure is possible and toward comfort and quality of life when patients have widespread disease.
We use modern imaging technology and techniques such as endoscopic ultrasound with tissue biopsy, high resolution 3-phase computerized tomography scanning and biochemical markers to allow earlier detection and better staging of patients with pancreatic cancer. The staging of pancreatic cancer is very important to our patients: Maximize the opportunity for potentially curative surgery without unnecessary treatments or recovery. Improvements in imaging allow the cancer care team to better predict which patients with pancreatic cancer are likely to benefit from surgery to remove the cancer and which patients have the cancer spread too far to benefit from surgery.
While the incidence of pancreatic cancer has not changed, the death rate has continued to decline since the 1970’s. Improvements in surgical technique and post operative care are mainly responsible for this reduction. Recently, a number of studies have demonstrated less morbidity and mortality when major pancreatic surgery is performed in high volume regional centers. Cancer care teams and surgeons at Gundersen Lutheran have studied results at this institution and shown that quality outcomes can be achieved closer to home with the benefit of primary care physicians and specialists familiar with you. To study this we compared our “outcomes of complex gastrointestinal procedures” including pancreatic surgery to national standards and found no statistical difference in morbidity and mortality.
Learn more....Most patients with pancreatic cancer in America are not suitable for surgical resection. Pancreatic cancer tends to spread rapidly and extends beyond what surgeons can remove. Even a few years ago this determination required major abdominal surgery, with a long recovery, at just the same time quality of life matters most for patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer. With improved imaging, minimally invasive surgery, and radiology guided biopsy we are better able to focus our attention on patients with the best chances to benefit from major surgery and help the majority of patients with comfort and quality of life rather than recover from surgery.
Despite advances in treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery cure is less often accomplished than with other tumors. For these patients, specialists at Gundersen Lutheran work together to slow the spread of cancer with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. As the pancreatic cancer grows it may block off the bile duct and intestines. Gundersen Lutheran specialists are applying minimally invasive approaches to relieve bile duct and intestinal obstruction with mechanical stents placed during endoscopy as outpatient procedures. Our radiologists and pain specialists can reduce the pain with minimally invasive and radiology guided pain nerve ablation.
We believe patients can stay close to home with our specialists working together as a team using modern technology to better stage patients without unnecessary surgery, to provide high quality surgery when appropriate, and help those less fortunate support them with minimally invasive approaches aimed at slowing tumor growth, comfort, and quality of life.