What is palliative therapy?
The term “Palliative” is an indication that whilst there are a number of treatment options, these are unlikely to cure the cancer. Therapy aims to improve quality of life by controlling symptoms such as altered bowel habit, appetite, weight loss, flatulence, pain and other problems caused by pancreatic cancer. This may sometimes include chemotherapy, radiotherapy or even occasionally surgery depending on the individual circumstances, and the term palliative therefore does not mean that there are no treatment options, but that those options are aimed at trying to control the tumour and symptoms rather than having a realistic chance of curing the tumour.
