Radiotherapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

In the last two decades, we have witnessed revolutionary advances in pancreatic imaging as well as increased availability of megavoltage radiotherapy equipment and sophisticated radiotherapy planning devices. Several advances in the radiotherapy of pancreatic cancer have been made for the patient with resectable disease. Postoperative radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy confers a survival advantage after ‘acurative’ resection. Preoperative and intraoperative radiotherapy may do the same, but this requires further evaluation. Preoperative irradiation may improve the resectability rate, but the clinical data are still very limited. For locally unresectable disease, PHD radiotherapy with adjuvant 5-FU should now be the standard treatment in suitable cases with a median survival time of about one year. High LET radiation beams have failed to produce improved survival in two prospective randomized studies. Intraoperative radiotherapy is an effective means of pain control and enhances control of local disease, but has not been shown to improve survival rate significantly. Interstitial radiotherapy also improves local control, but it is associated with a high mortality rate and an even higher major complication rate. Wide-area radiation therapy and preoperative radiotherapy both seem to show promise in this group of patients. Patients with metastatic disease should be treated palliatively on an individual basis.