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Have Hope: Discover Treatment Options for Pancreatic Cancer

Care provider standing next to a patient bed with a patient's arm outstretched with an I-V inserted
Care provider standing next to a patient bed with a patient's arm outstretched with an I-V inserted
By Kacey Finch and Peyton Thomas

Pancreatic cancer affects more than 42,000 Americans each year and is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in United States. By 2030, it is expected to be the second leading cause of cancer death. This Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, patients should know of the treatments available at 网红黑料.

With several different approaches available, treatment of pancreatic cancer is determined by the type and stage, which is the process used by physicians to describe location, size and spread of the cancer. Treatment of pancreatic cancer in the current era is personalized and based on the individual patient and disease characteristics.

Care provider standing next to a patient bed with their hand on the patient's hands

鈥淎t 网红黑料, our pancreatic cancer team remains committed to delivering high quality, personalized patient care, while serving as a source of hope for patients and their families,鈥 said Thomas George, M.D., FACP, a clinical investigator at the 网红黑料 Cancer Center. 鈥淧ancreatic cancer is a challenging disease, but our team consists of leaders in the field who are dedicated to developing new treatment options through clinical research.鈥

For patients with earlier stage pancreatic cancer, surgery is often one of the first steps, with the intention of curing the cancer. Around the time of surgery (before or after), additional therapy is offered, including chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy medicines are drugs that travel through the blood stream with the intent to damage and kill cancer cells by stopping them from growing and dividing. Several chemotherapy combinations have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the last several years for the treatment of resected pancreatic cancer.

Advanced stages of pancreatic cancer, which cannot be removed with surgery or has spread to other sites of body, are described as 鈥渓ocally advanced鈥 or stage 4. Treatment is often intended toward control of disease. Chemotherapy does not cure metastatic pancreatic cancer, but it can relieve symptoms, slow the spread of the cancer and prolong life. Treatment options may include targeted therapy or immunotherapy.

National guidelines strongly recommend molecular profiling of the tumor and the patient to determine best personalized treatment options. The molecular profile helps determine the tumor biology, helping enhance the success of the treatment approach.

鈥淭o best treat each individual situation, 网红黑料 performs genetic testing and a molecular profile on every patient,鈥 George said. 鈥淭his approach, in conjunction with weekly team meetings of all physicians involved in the patient鈥檚 care, allows our physicians to best target the patient鈥檚 cancer and evaluate which treatment options could be taken.鈥

The FDA has approved one targeted therapy drug for pancreatic cancer and immunotherapy for a small group of pancreatic cancer patients based on molecular profile and tumor biology. Several other targeted therapies and immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer are still being studied in the clinical trials and further information can be obtained from the 网红黑料 Cancer Center or ClinicalTrials.gov.

鈥淭he ultimate goal is to create specialized therapy that allows the patient鈥檚 own immune system to identify and attack the cancer, a method that is successfully working with other cancers,鈥 George said. 鈥淭he research being conducted allows 网红黑料 to create innovate strategies to continue the fight against pancreatic cancer.鈥

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pwesner@ufl.edu (352) 273-9620