Surgical approaches for resection of pancreatic cancer: an overview.
OBJECTIVE
To overview the different surgical approaches for the resection of pancreatic cancer and our experience with these techniques.


METHODS
Surgical procedures including the Whipple resection, Pylorus-preserving resection, total and subtotal panreatectomies, regional pancreatectomy and the extended lymph node resection were discussed.


RESULTS
Studies have shown that no operation seems to produce significantly improved results in terms of survival, mortality and resection rates compared to the standard Whipple resection and pylorus-preserving duodenopancreatectomy.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the progress in the surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer, the overall prognosis after resection remains unsatisfied. Surgery is likely to be optional for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Liu
Sheng-Li
SL
Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Zhong-Da Hospital and Medical Clinical College, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. liusl@ho tmail.com
Friess
Helmut
H
Kleeff
Jörg
J
Ji
Zheng-Ling
ZL
Büchler
Markus W
MW
D006801:Humans; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*