New developments in pancreatic cancer.

Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the United States. It affects men and women fairly equally and is most frequently diagnosed in the eighth decade of life. It may occur as part of hereditary/familial pancreatitis with an identified genetic mutation, and smokers are at increased risk. Cancer most often occurs in the pancreatic head and often leads to biliary obstruction with a clinical presentation of painless jaundice. The principal diagnostic modality is dedicated pancreatic computed tomography (CT) scanning, although other imaging techniques have a role. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is generally reserved for obtaining tissue, for which it is insensitive, or for palliative stenting. Surgery with the Whipple procedure offers the only chance of cure. Patients are staged as resectable if there are no distant metastases to lymph nodes or organs and there is no major vessel involvement. The 5-year survival rate for resectable patients is about 10% with a median survival of 12 to 18 months. Unresectable patients live about 6 months. Adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or gemcitabine provides modest benefits. Palliative biliary decompression, pain control, and maintenance of gastric drainage are the usual forms of therapy.