Palliative Care for Pancreatic and Periampullary Cancer

Most patients with pancreatic cancer will present with metastatic or locally advanced disease. Unfortunately, most patients with localized disease will experience recurrence even after multimodality therapy. As such, pancreatic cancer patients arrive at a common endpoint where decisions pertaining to palliative care come to the forefront. This article summarizes surgical, endoscopic, and other palliative techniques for relief of obstructive jaundice, relief of duodenal or gastric outlet obstruction, and relief of pain due to invasion of the celiac plexus. It also introduces the utility of the palliative care triangle in clarifying a patient's and family's goals to guide decision making.UTMB Clinical and Translational Science Award [UL1TR000071]; NIH T-32 Grant [5T32DK007639]; AHRQ [1R24HS022134]; Cancer Prevention and Research Institute Grant [RP140020]12 month embargo; Available online 16 November 2016This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu