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May 28, 2020

Neoadjuvant Treatment for Patients With Localized Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Are We There Yet?

Author Affiliations
  • 1Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Population Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
  • 2Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
  • 3Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, Texas
  • 4Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
JAMA Oncol. 2020;6(8):1163-1164. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.0562

Nearly every published study related to the treatment of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) opens with a description of the poor long-term survival associated with the diagnosis, and many further emphasize that resection is the only potentially curative treatment option. While both points are for the most part factual, neither really tells the whole story. With contemporary systemic therapy regimens, long-term survivors are increasingly identified.1 There is also an evolving understanding that while surgery is potentially curative, this is particularly the case when it is not used as a stand-alone intervention but rather incorporated as part of multimodality therapy (MMT) that includes chemotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy, or both.

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