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January 27, 2022

Measuring the Effect of Local Control From Radiotherapy in Patients With Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas
  • 2Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston
  • 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston
JAMA Oncol. 2022;8(3):337-338. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.7037

Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer wish to live longer, better lives, with hope for cure. Radiotherapy can effectively palliate symptoms, but its association with prolonged survival remains controversial. Fortunately, improvements in survival have occurred over recent decades, mostly owing to advances in cytotoxic chemotherapy. Intensified multiagent chemotherapy, first trialed in the metastatic setting, is now frequently used in patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), underscoring the notion that even in early stages, PDAC represents a systemic disease. In this setting, can any additional local control afforded by radiation therapy translate to a survival advantage when added to surgery and chemotherapy?

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