The pancreas is an organ in the abdomen that produces digestive juices (bile) and hormones (inulin) and is found between the liver and stomach. In 2021, an estimated 4,261 people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. ¹

Other benign conditions may cause these symptoms and having one or more of the signs above doesn’t mean you have pancreatic cancer. If you’re concerned about pancreatic cancer, you should talk to your GP, and they can refer you to a specialist if they think it’s needed, or you can book directly with us.

Pancreatic cancer treatment may include, surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

The treatment for pancreatic cancer is dependent on the stage, which means how far the cancer has grown and whether it has spread to other parts of the body.

Early-stage cancers are often described as resectable, which means that they are potentially curable by surgically removing them. If the cancer can be removed from the pancreas and any surrounding organs, along with a clear margin of tissue around it to ensure that no cancer cells are left behind, then long-term survival may be achieved. Surgery is usually the best treatment for early stage pancreatic cancer, but because of frailty or other illnesses, some people are not suitable. This is sometimes referred to as being medically inoperable.

A cancer that is more advanced, but which has not spread to other organs such as the liver or lungs, is described as locally advanced pancreatic cancer. This is usually treated with chemotherapy, and sometimes with a five-to-six-week course of radiation therapy.

Pancreatic cancer that has spread beyond the pancreas and adjacent lymph nodes is called metastatic pancreatic cancer. This is usually treated with chemotherapy.

“The GenesisCare Foundation compassionate access program aims to provide patients who otherwise would have limited, or sadly, no options with a really viable treatment option.”

- Dan Collins - 

1. Cancer Australia, Pancreatic cancer in Australia statistics, accessed June 2022
2. Hammel, P et al. JAMA 2016; 315:1844-1853.
3. Chuong, M et al. Radiother Oncol, 2021; Vol 161, Supp 1.
4. Good, J et al. Feasibility and Safety of daily adapted MR-guided SABR for pancreatic cancer in the UK, ESTRO 2022, viewed May 2022
5. De Leon, J et al. Clin. Transl. Radiat Oncol., 2021; Vol 31, p64-70. The program will also have a research component, generating Australian real-world data within the ADAPT-MRL registry, to further develop the evidence base for this innovative radiation therapy technique.