Treatment of Resectable or Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

Treatment of resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer may include:

• chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy, followed by surgery
• surgery
• surgery, followed by chemotherapy
• surgery, followed by chemoradiation
• a clinical trial of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy before surgery
• a clinical trial of chemoradiation, followed by surgery and then chemotherapy
• a clinical trial of different ways of giving radiation therapy

Surgery to remove the tumor may include Whipple procedure, total pancreatectomy, or distal pancreatectomy.

Palliative therapy can be started at any stage of disease. See the Palliative Therapy section for information about treatments that may improve quality of life or relieve symptoms in people with pancreatic cancer.

Learn more about these treatments in the Treatment Option Overview.

Use our clinical trial search to find NCI-supported cancer clinical trials that are accepting patients. You can search for trials based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, and where the trials are being done. General information about clinical trials is also available.