Is Neoadjuvant an Option for the Treatment of Non Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Patients?

Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is a high lethal malignancy. Metastatic and unresectable patients have a very poor expectative of survival. For resectable patients and borderline resectable patients surgery is the only chance of cure, however early recurrence and distant metastasis are very frequent and rarely these patients will live longer than 3 years despite a complete tumor resection. Neoadjuvant treatments have been explored in order to improve R0 resection rates and survival. Despite a lack of phase 3 trials there is some evidence that supports the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with or without sequential radio chemotherapy in borderline resectable pancreatic cancer patients.