Are surgeries for pancreatic cancer usually given with other treatments?
Sometimes treatment is given before surgery is performed to remove a pancreatic tumor. This treatment, called neoadjuvant therapy, generally involves chemotherapy or chemotherapy with radiation therapy. The goal of neoadjuvant treatment is to reduce the size of the tumor so that it is more easily removed during surgery. Often, adjuvant therapy, or treatment that is given after the surgical removal of all or part of the pancreatic tumor, is given. After surgery, patients are at risk for recurrence, or reappearance, of the cancer. Recurrence can occur when a microscopic amount of the cancer spreads prior to the surgery. The aim of adjuvant therapy is to kill microscopic cancer cells that may be present while their numbers are small, thereby preventing recurrence of a tumor. What are palliative surgeries for pancreatic cancer? Surgical procedures that do not involve removing the tumor may be performed to relieve, or palliate, symptoms. Palliative procedures may relieve symptoms of jaundic
