Palliative Management of Unresectable Pancreas Cancer

Abstract

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Surgical resection offers the best opportunity for prolonged survival but is limited to patients with locally resectable disease without distant metastases. Regrettably, most patients are diagnosed at a point in which curative surgery is no longer a treatment option. In these patients, management of symptoms becomes paramount to improve quality of life and potentially increase survival. This article reviews the palliative management of unresectable pancreatic cancer, including potential palliative resection, surgical and endoscopic biliary and gastric decompression, and pain control with celiac plexus block.

Keywords: Biliary decompression; Celiac plexus block; Gastric outlet obstruction; Metastatic; Palliative bypass; Pancreatic adenocarcinoma; Unresectable.