Exocrine pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer represent the 10th most common malignancy. Despite many efforts, it still represents one of the leading cause of cancer-related death. Surgery remains the only curative treatment, but unfortunately only a minority of patients present with resectable disease. The more accurate staging and the knowledge of the biology of pancreatic cancer lead to a better disease classification, thus better tailoring treatment options. In recent years, the introduction of new and more effective chemotherapy combinations has progressively changed treatment approaches and patients’ outcome. The advances in the understanding of the molecular basis and the availability of new drug combinations give rise to a certain hope for the future.