Adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies of pancreatic cancer: a review.

The survival of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is dismal. Few patients on initial presentation are suitable for surgical resection. This has prompted clinical studies with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy designed either to increase the number of patients eligible for surgery (neoadjuvant therapy) or to prolong the survival of patients who had undergone surgery (adjuvant therapy). None of these studies may at this time be considered definitive. Wherever possible, patients felt eligible for neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy should be entered on clinical trials. Where this is not possible, clinicians should exercise their best judgment in offering this type of treatment to pancreatic cancer patients under their care.