Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is a solid, malignant, unpreventable, chemoradioresistant tumour with an unfavourable prognosis. Radical resection is the only potentially curable treatment modality that, coupled with adjuvant chemotherapy, significantly prolongs the survival in 20% of patients.
In a proportion of primary unresectable patients (borderline), an active approach is currently preferred that utilizes neoadjuvant chemo(radio)therapy in order to reach subsequent resection. In approximately 70% of patients, palliative or symptomatic treatment is indicated.
When pancreatic cancer is suspected, it is necessary to refer the patient as soon as possible to a specialized centre. The prevailing feeling of despair in a part of the professional public has to be replaced by a rational approach.