THE ROLE OF CHEMOTHERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF ADENOCARCINOMA OF THE PANCREAS

Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is a very disappointing disease. By the time of diagnosis, most patients have extensive metastasis, primarily to the litter; peritoneum, and the lymph system. At this point, the d isease is usually too advanced to allow resection. Even if resection i s performed, the recurrence rate is high. Therefore, there is an urgen t need to develop non-surgical therapies. This paper reviews the curre nt role of chemotherapy in. pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Various single agent and multiple agent therapies for advanced and locally advanced p ancreatic adenocarcinoma are reviewed and discussed. The role of chemo therapy as an adjuvant therapy to surgical resection is also covered i n this paper.