Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center experts offer comprehensive care for pancreatic cancer, including advanced treatments and new options available only through clinical studies.
Many patients are seen at our Pancreatic Cancer Specialty Clinic. At this clinic, all of the specialists who will be involved in your care will meet to design treatment that's tailored to you. You will receive a multidisciplinary treatment plan in a single day — truly one-stop shopping.
Some patients see a single specialist, based on their individual needs. Either way, we see you quickly so you can start your treatment quickly.
This page is about pancreatic cancer. To learn more about NETs, visit our dedicated NET section.
Pancreatic Cancer Expertise | Treatment Types | Pain Management
We have surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, gastroenterologists and pathologists who specialize in pancreatic cancer; the most advanced diagnostic, treatment and recovery programs; and extensive support.
Fred Hutch patients have access to advanced therapies being explored in clinical studies for pancreatic cancer or pancreatic NETs conducted here and at UW Medicine. We'll talk with you about any studies, as well as standard treatments, that might be relevant for you.
Fred Hutch was among the first institutions in the Pacific Northwest region to offer peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) as a treatment option for patients with NETs. Lutathera® (lutetium Lu 177 dotatate) uses radiation to target cancer cells while minimizing the harm to healthy tissue.
Your Fred Hutch doctors will collaborate on a comprehensive treatment plan to get the best results for you based on your health and the type, stage and location of your cancer. Genomic profiling (laboratory methods to learn about the genetic make-up of your cancer cells) helps us personalize your care by targeting specific pathways, an approach known as precision medicine.
Your personal team includes more than your esophageal cancer doctors. Additional experts who specialize in treating people with cancer will be involved if you need them — experts like a registered dietitian, pharmacist, social worker or palliative care professional.
Learn more about our Supportive Care Services
During and after treatment, your team continues to provide follow-up care on a schedule tailored to you. The Fred Hutch Survivorship Clinic is also here to help you live your healthiest life as an esophageal cancer survivor.
Learn more about the Survivorship Clinic
Surgery is the only treatment with the potential to cure cancer that starts in the pancreas — but only if all the cancer can be removed. Taking out only part of the cancer generally does not improve treatment results for patients, and the surgery is complex with a lengthy recovery.
Surgery for Fred Hutch patients with pancreatic cancer is performed at UW Medical Center - Montlake by expert surgeons specially trained to do your type of operation.
The Main Surgeries for Pancreatic Cancer are:
Whipple Procedure
In this complex operation, surgeons remove part of your stomach, part of your small intestine (the duodenum and part of the jejunum), your bile duct that's outside your liver, your gallbladder and the wide end of your pancreas near the center of your abdomen (called the head, neck and uncinate process).
Then they pull your remaining jejunum up and connect your remaining bile duct, pancreas and stomach to it.
Distal Pancreatectomy
If cancer is in the tail of your pancreas (the narrow end, near your side) and not in the head, your surgeon may remove the tail and body of your pancreas. Whenever possible, our surgeons try to leave your spleen, but they may have to remove it in order to get all the nearby lymph nodes.
Total Pancreatectomy
In some situations, the entire pancreas is removed along with surrounding structures. Your surgeon may recommend this if your tumor is large, it involves almost your whole pancreas or it spans the central area from the neck to the body of the pancreas.
This approach may also be used for people with familial pancreatic cancer. They might have a Whipple procedure or distal pancreatectomy first. Then if follow-up care shows a lesion has developed in their remaining pancreas, the rest of the gland may be removed.
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Our surgeons perform minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery (through small "keyhole" incisions) whenever possible. Benefits can include less pain, less narcotic pain medicine, less time in the hospital, fewer complications and better overall recovery.
Open surgery (through a longer incision) is necessary in some situations, such as when a pancreatic tumor involves nearby blood vessels.
Robot-Assisted Surgery
Your surgeon may perform laparoscopic surgery using the robotic da Vinci Surgical System. With da Vinci, your surgeon sits at a console and uses hand and foot controls to move robotic arms that hold a laparoscope (camera) and surgical instruments. The console gives your surgeon a 3D view (not a flat view, like on a monitor screen). Da Vinci allows your surgeon to make very precise, complex motions (more than traditional laparoscopic instruments do), and the ideal ergonomics help prevent fatigue during long operations.
1 Pancreatic Cancer Surgery, American Cancer Society, 2018
2 NCCN Guidelines: Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 2018
Usually chemotherapy medicines are given by infusion into a vein. Some are taken by mouth in pill form.
Your Fred Hutch team will talk with you about the specific drugs we recommend for you, how you’ll receive them, your treatment schedule and what to expect. We’ll also explain how to take the best possible care of yourself during treatment and after, and we’ll connect you with medical and support resources throughout Fred Hutch.
Targeted therapies are newer cancer treatments that work more selectively than standard chemotherapy. They target a gene or protein responsible for allowing cancer to grow, they seek out and damage cancer cells, or they prompt your immune system to attack particular cells (also called immunotherapy).
For pancreatic cancer, we perform molecular profiling of tumors to try to detect targets that might respond to treatment.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells.
For pancreatic cancer, you may have radiation therapy or a combination of radiation and chemotherapy (chemoradiation), before or after surgery or instead of surgery if you cannot have surgery. Chemotherapy medicines can make cancer cells more sensitive to radiation.
Physicians commonly recommend conventional EBRT for pancreatic cancer.
Learn more about Radiation Therapy
In some situations, your physician may recommend proton therapy, a unique form of EBRT that targets protons at your tumor.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center - Proton Therapy is the only proton facility in the Pacific Northwest.
Learn more about Proton Therapy
Another option for some pancreatic tumors is IORT, a fast and effective form of radiation therapy that uses electron-beam radiation during surgery.
UW Medical Center - Montlake is the only hospital in the WAMI region (Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) to offer this treatment.
Your pancreas aids in digestion and regulates your blood glucose levels, so pancreatic cancer is likely to affect the way your body uses food.
To anticipate and prevent potential problems or to diagnose and deal with them early, it’s important to meet with a dietitian when you begin cancer treatment. You might also need enzymes, taken in pill form, to help with digestion.
Pancreatic tumors can affect digestion differently depending on their type and location. Your Fred Hutch dietitian will evaluate your needs and create an individualized nutrition plan for you.
Managing pain is one of the most important aspects of your care for pancreatic cancer. Pain is a common symptom: During the course of cancer care, 70 percent of patients experience some form of pain, which can affect their quality of life. Fortunately, pain can be successfully controlled.
Dermot R. Fitzgibbon, MD, and his team at the Fred Hutch Pain Clinic work with medical oncologists in the Pancreatic Cancer Specialty Clinic (PCSC) to manage patients’ long-term pain with medicines as well as non-drug treatments. The goals of pancreatic cancer pain management are to control any pain you have, minimize any side effects you experience from pain medicines, and enhance your quality of life.
Learn more about the Pain Clinic
Cancer patients can experience chronic non-cancer pain, cancer-related pain, or a combination of the two. Chronic non-cancer pain tends not to change much over time. It can usually be managed by one or two doctors. In contrast, cancer pain may be complex and sometimes requires the involvement of many care professionals.
Most of the time, a patient’s oncologist can manage his or her pancreatic cancer pain. “We tend to be more involved in the more complex cases,” Dr. Fitzgibbon says about the Pain Clinic. “Cancer pain care needs to be carefully coordinated. It requires careful follow-up of issues and medications that can complicate a patient’s overall care.”
As a PCSC patient, you will be asked about your pain. Your team will ask you detailed questions in order to understand the causes of your pain, select the most appropriate treatments, and evaluate your response to these treatments.
Questions may include:
To help ensure that you receive the best pain relief you can get, ask your doctor or nurse these questions about controlling pancreas cancer pain:
The main treatment for pancreas cancer pain is opioids (narcotics). These are the strongest pain relievers available, and they are generally very safe if taken as directed.
Taking pain medicines on a regular, around-the-clock basis is a more effective way to treat constant pain, and it may actually decrease the total amount of pain medicine you need to get relief each day.
Opioids come in two main forms: short-acting and long-acting.
These opioids are commonly used for pancreas cancer pain management:
Side effects of opioid pain medicines may include constipation, sleepiness, balance problems, difficulty urinating, itching, nausea, or vomiting. You should not drive until you know the effects the medicine has on you and whether you can drive safely. Please tell your team if you experience any side effects of your pain medicines.
Other prescription and over-the-counter medicines used to relieve pain include acetaminophen (Tylenol) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) or naproxen (Aleve). They can be effective for mild to moderate pain. However, they may have interactions with chemotherapy or may not be advised in certain situations. It is very important to check with your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist before taking these medicines.
At times, medicines called “adjuvant analgesics” are also used for pain and symptom management. These are typically anticonvulsant (anti-seizure) or antidepressant medicines. They may help treat nerve pain, improve sleep, or improve mood. Low mood, anxiety, and lack of sleep all worsen quality of life and are important to address.
Non-opioids used for pancreas cancer pain include the following: