Management of locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest malignancies and is fatal in more than 95% of affected individuals. For locally advanced disease, the combination of 5-FU and radiation appears to offer the best chance for delaying disease progression. The introduction of gemcitabine into chemoradiotherapy regimens may provide additional improvements in the management of patients. Preoperative therapy has proved feasible but has not shown improvement in overall survival.