Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are mainly used for palliative purposes in pancreatic cancer. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are usually combined with surgery, the main modality of treatment, in pancreatic cancer management.

Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy is a form of local therapy in that it only affects the cells in the treated areas. During radiotherapy cancer sites are exposed to high dose of ionizing radiation(x-rays) which kills the cancer cells. External beam radiation therapy is the most commonly used mode of radiation therapy in pancreatic cancer. Nearby normal structures may also be damaged during radiotherapy. Hence the dose of radiotherapy has to be carefully calculated .The patient usually receives 5 doses of radiotherapy a week for several weeks or months.

Radiation therapy can be administered prior to surgery, preoperatively or after surgery, postoperatively. If patient is scheduled to undergo surgery preoperative radiotherapy is preferred as preoperative radiotherapy can reduce the tumor bulk and help in performing surgery. Radiotherapy immediately after the surgery may not be feasible, as the patient will be recovering from the surgery and radiotherapy may actually delay the recovery.

Radiotherapy can be used in combination with chemotherapy to treat metastasized cancers as surgery, in these cases, doesn't appear to have any additional survival benefit. Radiotherapy can also be used to reduce pain and other symptoms associated .

chemotherapy

Chemotherapy involves administration of drugs that kill the cancer cells. chemotherapy is a form of systemic therapy. chemotherapy drugs not only kill the cancerous cells, but also the normal cells of the body resulting in various side effects.

Chemotherapy drugs are usually given through injection. After the drug enters the bloodstream it reaches different areas of the body killing cancerous cells, which have spread from the original site of cancer.

Pancreas cancer is highly resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Currently available chemotherapeutic drugs are not effective in killing pancreas cancer cells. This is one of the reasons for the high mortality rates in pancreas cancer. Chemotherapy, at present, is not used for curative purposes but only for palliative purposes i.e. alleviation of symptoms

Gemcitabine and 5-flourouracil are the most commonly used drugs in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.