J Dig Cancer Res.  2023 Apr;11(1):1-8. 10.52927/jdcr.2023.11.1.1.

Impact of Surgery on Oligometastatic Pancreatic Cancer: Current Status and Future Perspectives

• Sho M
• Yasuda S
• Nagai M
• Nakamura K
• Terai T
• Kohara Y

• KMID: 2541621
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.52927/jdcr.2023.11.1.1

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer treatment has advanced. In particular, effective chemotherapy regimen development has fundamentally altered the therapeutic concept and strategy for pancreatic cancer treatment. Consequently, the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer has gradually improved. Conversion surgery for locally advanced pancreatic cancer may offer long-term survival or even a full recovery in some individuals. In contrast, metastatic pancreatic cancer has long been considered a surgical contraindication because aggressive surgical resection of the metastatic lesions does not prolong patient survival. Unexpectedly positive benefits of anticancer therapy in recent clinical experience were observed even with metastatic pancreatic cancer. To date, little evidence presented the success of surgical resection for metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment in such rare cases. However, hope and concern are growing that surgical intervention, even in patients with metastatic cancer, may result in favorable outcomes. Several studies suggested different surgical intervention effects depending on metastasis sites and patterns. Thus, this review summarizes the current status of surgery in the multidisciplinary treatment of oligometastatic pancreatic cancer and discusses future perspectives.

Keyword

Neoplasm metastasis; Pancreatic neoplasms; General surgery; Drug therapy; Biomarkers