Chemotherapy is a method in which anti-cancer drugs are intravenously injected or orally given to patients with cancer, so as to reach various parts of the body and to reduce or get rid of the tumor. Chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer can be employed at any stage as a treatment option, but is usually used for advanced stages of pancreatic cancer when the tumor cannot be completely removed with surgery.
Treatments for pancreatic cancer include surgeries and chemotherapy. If the cancer is in the pancreas and has not spread to the neighboring tissue then surgery may be an option. There are two kinds of surgery for pancreatic cancer: potentially curative surgery and palliative surgery.
Potentially curative surgery is conducted when there is a possibility of removing the entire tumor. Palliative surgery is done when the tumor has spread to various parts of the body and cannot be removed completely.
If the tumor can be contained in the pancreas then a surgery is performed to remove that part of the pancreas diseased by the tumor. It is known as a Whipple procedure and involves removing either the head or the tail of the organ.
If the tumor is very large, chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer treatment is used in an attempt to shrink the tumor or get rid of cancer cells.
Palliative chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer is not advised as pancreatic cancer progresses quickly. If advised, it will give the patient temporary relief.
The drugs used in chemotherapy not only kill cancer cells but harm normal cells as well. Depending on the dosage and type of drug, this could lead to several of the following side effects of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer:
References