Radiotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer
This page is about radiotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer. There is information about
Radiotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer
Radiotherapy is not often used for advanced pancreatic cancer. But in some people it may help to relieve symptoms by shrinking the cancer. There is a maximum total dose of radiotherapy you can have to any part of the body. So if you had radiotherapy to your abdomen when you were first treated, more radiotherapy to that area may not be an option for you.
You can have radiotherapy to another part of your body if your cancer has spread. The length of the course of treatment will vary, depending on the treatment you need and where in the body is to be treated. But courses to relieve symptoms are usually fairly short.
Occasionally, doctors may suggest a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to try to shrink and slow your cancer down. This is not a standard treatment for advanced cancer of the pancreas. So it is usually only offered as part of a clinical trial.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the treating pancreatic cancer section.
Radiotherapy is not often used for advanced pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy or surgery are used more often. But in some people radiotherapy may shrink the cancer and reduce symptoms such as pain and small bowel blockage. There is a maximum total dose of radiotherapy you can have to any part of the body. So if your abdomen was treated after your initial surgery, radiotherapy to this area may not be an option for you.
Radiotherapy is sometimes used when the cancer has spread to another organ in the body. Radiotherapy is given in daily doses called fractions. Your doctor will decide and discuss with you how many fractions you will need to have. Treatment to relieve symptoms may be just one or a few fractions.
Occasionally doctors may suggest combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy to try to shrink a locally advanced pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed with surgery. Combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy can slow the growth of the cancer for some people. This is not really standard treatment for advanced cancer of the pancreas. It has been researched in clinical trials. The side effects of the treatment can be severe and can make some people feel very ill. So the benefits don't really outweigh the side effects yet. Research is continuing to try to make the treatment work better with fewer side effects. But because this is not standard treatment, it is usually only offered as part of a clinical trial.
There is more about having radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer in the CancerHelp UK section on radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer. And more about radiotherapy generally in the CancerHelp UK radiotherapy section. There is also a page on pancreatic cancer research in this section of CancerHelp UK.
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