Pancreatic Cancer Radiotherapy

Cancer has rapidly become the leading cause of death in the United States, as well as around the world. Even though cancer refers to the uncontrolled division and multiplication of malignant cells, it encompasses a wide variety of diseases. This is mainly due to the fact that these malignant cells can appear in virtually any part of the human body, such as the lungs, breasts and pancreas. Even though there is pancreatic cancer radiotherapy, the majority of pancreatic cancer patients find out too late about their disease. Therefore, pancreatic cancer radiotherapy might only help them extend their life but not save it.

Estimated Pancreatic Cancer Cases in the U.S.

The American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institutealways keep accurate records on the deaths of pancreatic cancer patients. They have also estimated the survival rate of patients who had pancreatic cancer radiotherapy treatment, along with those that didn’t receive any type of therapy. In 2010 a total of 43,000+ deaths were expected due to pancreatic cancer, while in 2011 this number is projected to decrease to about 37,000+. This decrease is due in part to pancreatic cancer radiotherapy, which is available throughout the country, along with other types of treatment. In the majority of the cases, pancreatic cancer has already spread to other parts of the body by the time it’s detected, and therefore, surgery isn’t recommended. Only about 1% of pancreatic cancer patients are expected to live five years.

Early Detection

Many refer to pancreatic cancer as the silent killer, mainly due to the absence of any symptoms that can alert the person that he or she is suffering from the disease. Cancer studies have proven that patients are able to find out about their disease until it has spread to their liver, stomach or other parts of the body. Unfortunately, there is no known early detection method for pancreatic cancer and studies have shown that only about eight percent of pancreatic cancer patients have shown early symptoms. For those who have been capable of detecting the problem early, they can opt for pancreatic cancer radiotherapy and perhaps even surgery to remove the cancerous mass. Currently, clinical trials are performing different studies using pancreatic cancer radiotherapy and other novel types of treatment.

Pancreatic Cancer Radiotherapy and Surgery

Despite the fact that pancreatic cancer radiotherapy has been used in the past, it’s still under study in hopes of finding ways of improving the overall treatment. The main reason for this is the fact that pancreatic cancer can go undetected for a while until it finds itself in the late stages. Moreover, it has been established that pancreatic cancer radiotherapy before surgery – in cases it’s instead of surgery –might show a few advantages, such as an improved oxygenation for the body’s tissue. However, those pancreatic cancer patients that suffer from metastatic disease might not show any improvement overall. Pancreatic cancer radiotherapy can also be combined with chemotherapy, which is a treatment now known as chemoradiotherapy; a study published by the Boston University School of Medicine determined that patients who receive chemoradiotherapy before surgery have a higher chance of surviving.