Radiation Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer

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Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) uses high-energy beams or subatomic particles to damage the DNA inside pancreatic cancer cells. After enough damage, the cells cannot multiply, and they die.

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How Radiation Therapy Can Treat Pancreatic Cancer

If you have pancreatic cancer, your care team may recommend radiation therapy:

  • Before surgery to help shrink your tumor so it’s easier to remove
  • After surgery to reduce the risk that the cancer will return
  • Instead of surgery if an operation cannot remove all the cancer

You might have conventional external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT), proton therapy or intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT).

Your team may suggest a combination of radiation and chemotherapy (chemoradiation). Chemotherapy medicines can make cancer cells more sensitive to radiation.

Conventional External-Beam Radiation Therapy

Physicians commonly recommend conventional EBRT for pancreatic cancer. EBRT means radiation comes from a source outside your body using a machine called a linear accelerator. In conventional EBRT, the machine sends beams of X-ray radiation toward your tumor. Some patients have a type of EBRT called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which precisely delivers high doses of radiation over just a few treatments.

Proton Therapy

In some cases, your physician may recommend proton therapy. It’s a unique form of EBRT that targets protons at your tumor. Proton therapy may significantly limit radiation exposure to healthy tissue near your pancreas, such as your bowel, liver, kidneys and spinal cord. This may reduce side effects. Proton therapy may be most useful if you have tumors that have come back after treatment and you had radiation therapy to the same area in the past.

Intraoperative Radiation Therapy

Another option for some pancreatic tumors is IORT. This is a fast and effective form of radiation therapy that uses a beam of electrons during surgery. Your surgeon moves healthy structures out of the way to expose the target area for this precise, high-dose treatment. It takes only a few minutes to deliver and uses only a fraction of the total radiation given over a traditional multi-week course of external-beam radiation.

Dr. Edward Kim with a stethascope around his neck
Dr. Edward Kim is a radiation oncologist specializing in gastrointestinal cancers, including pancreatic cancer.

Why Choose Fred Hutch for Radiation Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer

Fred Hutch uses the latest technology to provide the most precise radiation therapy possible for pancreatic cancer. We offer a wide range of radiation therapy options and match the best approach to your diagnosis.

Fred Hutch Cancer Center – Proton Therapy is the only proton facility in the Pacific Northwest.

UW Medical Center – Montlake, where Fred Hutch patients have surgery, is the only hospital in the WAMI region (Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) to offer IORT.

Our radiation oncology experts take great care to align your body for treatment. This helps ensure the radiation is focused on your tumor cells with the least chance of affecting healthy cells nearby.

Radiation Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer FAQ

The risks and side effects depend on the type of radiation therapy. In general, radiation therapy may cause some body-wide side effects, like fatigue or lower levels of blood cells. Other effects will be more focused around the area being treated. Radiation to the abdominal area for pancreatic cancer may irritate the skin and cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Your Fred Hutch care team will explain what to expect. We’ll talk with you before radiation therapy about the risks and side effects that might happen with the kind of treatment you’re receiving.

Your care team at Fred Hutch is here to help you prevent or prepare for side effects and to relieve any side effects. The most important step you can take is to let your care team know what you’re feeling. We’ve helped many patients and families through this process and know ways to ease your experience.

We can give you practical tips for dealing with whatever you’re going through, like how to cope with fatigue or relieve nausea. For some side effects, your care team can recommend over-the-counter medicine or give you a prescription to help. Our supportive care providers can help, too.

The best way to treat pancreatic cancer depends on many factors, like your overall health and if surgeons can remove all the cancer. Often, people have a combination of treatments that work in different ways.

Radiation therapy may be effective for you in situations like these:

  • You may be able to have surgery if radiation shrinks your tumor first.
  • You had surgery and there’s reason to suspect some microscopic cancer cells might remain behind in the area where tissue was removed.
  • Your cancer has spread beyond your pancreas and surgery isn’t a good option for you.
  • You have advanced pancreatic cancer. Radiation may help relieve symptoms, like pain.