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Pancreatic cancer treatment

  • Every year half a million new cases.
  • The average age is 73 years.
  • Men get sick more often than women.

Modern diagnostics: sonography, endosonography, ERCP, PET, scintigraphy with octreotide.

Innovative treatment: radiochemotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, surgical removal, a new generation of drugs.

MedTour patients recommend clinics for the treatment of pancreatic cancer:

Republic of Korea, Seoul
Samsung Medical Center
5.00
Excellent(5.001 review)
Admission fee:
from 100 USD
Apply
Turkey, Istanbul
Medipol University Hospital
5.00
Excellent(5.001 review)
Admission fee:
from 120 USD
Apply
Spain, Barcelona
Teknon Medical Center
5.00
Excellent(5.001 review)
Admission fee:
from 300 USD
Apply
Israel, Tel-Aviv
Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Clinic)
5.00
Excellent(5.001 review)
Admission fee:
from 600 USD
Apply
Turkey, Istanbul
LIV Hospitals
5.00
Excellent(5.001 review)
Admission fee:
from 120 USD
Apply
Turkey, Istanbul
Medical Park Hospitals Network
4.67
Excellent(4.676 reviews)
Admission fee:
from 130 USD
Apply
Israel, Haifa
Rambam Medical Center
Admission fee:
To be clarified
Apply
Turkey, Istanbul
Memorial Hospitals
4.22
Excellent(4.229 reviews)
Admission fee:
from 140 USD
Apply
Israel, Tel-Aviv
Assuta Medical Center
5.00
Excellent(5.001 review)
Admission fee:
from 500 USD
Apply
Italy, Milan
San Raffaele Hospital
Admission fee:
from 300 USD
Apply
Germany, Hamburg
Hospital network «Asklepios»
Admission fee:
from 400 USD
Apply
Germany, Berlin
Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch
3.50
Good(3.502 reviews)
Admission fee:
from 280 USD
Apply
Spain, Barcelona
Quirónsalud Barcelona Hospital
Admission fee:
from 450 USD
Apply
India, Bangalore, Goa
Manipal Hospitals Network
Admission fee:
from 100 USD
Apply
Spain, Barcelona, Madrid
HM Hospitals
Admission fee:
from 300 USD
Apply
Germany, Solingen
Municipal Clinic Solingen
Admission fee:
To be clarified
Apply
Turkey, Istanbul
Hisar Hospital Intercontinental
Admission fee:
from 120 USD
Apply
Republic of Korea, Seoul
Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH)
Admission fee:
from 50 USD
Apply
Czech Republic, Prague
Motol University Hospital
3.00
Good(3.001 review)
Admission fee:
To be clarified
Apply
Germany, Krefeld (Dusseldorf)
Helios Krefeld clinic
4.00
Excellent(4.001 review)
Admission fee:
from 600 USD
Apply
20 clinics of 53 Show more

Patient reviews

Patient was treated for Prostate cancer in the clinic Radiosurgery center Sigulda
Recommend

Рудченко Олексадр Украіна. Велике спасибі за професіоналізм та чуйність до всього колективу відділення, особливо лікарю Марісу Межецкісу. Лікування відбувалося у січні 2023 року.

Patient was treated for Breast cancer in the clinic Samsung Medical Center
Recommend

My mom had a mastectomy at the Samsung medical center. We were very worried, but everything went well. MedTour helped us get to the clinic and hired a transfer. The clinic is of a high class, my mother was pleased with the treatment, the conditions of the ward and the service.

Patient was treated for Prostate cancer in the clinic Medipol University Hospital
Recommend

I had prostate cancer and I decided to have a surgerv in Medipol clinic. I have heard about it from my friends to did the same surgery here. I was amazed about modern technology in this hospital! Doctors and nurses are super polite and educated. Everyone speaks english and is ready to help in every situation. My turkish surgeon was the best doctor, which I have ever met in my life. Results of the surgery are estounishing. I feel myself great and I am very thankful to MedTour for organizing my medical trip!

Frequently Asked Questions

1
What is pancreatic cancer?

This is a malignant transformation of pancreatic cells with the formation of a tumor.

1
What is the cause of pancreatic cancer?

Risk factors are:

  • smoking,
  • excessive alcohol consumption,
  • improper nutrition,
  • concomitant diseases (diabetes, pancreatitis).
1
How does pancreatic cancer manifest?

Patients complain about:

  • weight loss – in 90% of all cases,
  • complain and hurt in the abdomen or back – 80%,
  • jaundice – 70%,
  • loss of appetite and nausea – 40-50%,
  • emerging diabetes mellitus – 15%,
  • vomiting – 15%.
1
Can you die from pancreatic cancer?

Yes, you can. People gradually begin to feel weak, lose weight, and eventually die.

1
How long do people live with pancreatic cancer?

Without proper treatment people live an average of 4.6 months after being diagnosed with it.

1
How to identify pancreatic cancer?
  • laboratory tests,
  • ultrasound examination (sonography),
  • endoscopic ultrasound examination (endosonography),
  • endoscopic image of the duct and biliary tract using X-rays (ERCP),
  • MRI, CT, X-ray,
  • tissue puncture,
  • laparoscopy,
  • positron emission tomography (PET),
  • scintigraphy with octreotide.
1
How is pancreatic cancer treated?
  • surgery,
  • radiochemotherapy,
  • stereotactic irradiation,
  • medicines.
1
How much does pancreatic cancer treatment cost abroad?
  • Oncologist consultation and complex diagnostic: from $800 (Turkey), from $800 (Israel), from $800 (Germany).
  • Treatment costs: from $10,000 (Turkey), from $15,000 (Israel), from $30,000 (Germany).

Do you want to know the exact cost and get a free consultation? Leave a request and the Coordinating Doctor will contact you!

International standards for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is often found incidentally during an examination (abdominal ultrasound). If suspected, the doctor prescribes further diagnostics. Find out if it is really a tumor, where exactly in the pancreas is located and how far the disease has gone.
Mandatory examinations are:

  • laboratory tests,
  • ultrasound examination (sonography),
  • endoscopic ultrasound examination (endosonography).

Due to the position of the carcinoma in the pancreas, many imaging procedures do not provide detailed images. Therefore, they are often combined with:

  • endoscopic imaging of the pancreatic duct and biliary tract using X-rays (ERCP),
  • MRI, CT, X-ray,
  • tissue puncture (biopsy),
  • laparoscopy,
  • positron emission tomography (PET),
  • scintigraphy with octreotide.

Laboratory tests

Blood tests provide information about the general condition of a person, the functions of individual organs and the presence of tumor markers. They are produced by tumor cells of pancreatic carcinoma.

Sonography

With the help of ultrasound, the doctor checks the spread of the tumor in the surrounding tissues and daughter tumors (metastases) in distant organs. Disadvantages:

  • Very small tumors (less than 1 cm in diameter) are not visible.
  • Due to its location in the back of the abdomen, the pancreas is not always clearly visible from the outside.

Endosonography

Due to the close proximity to the tumor, the quality and information content of ultrasound images is much higher than in sonography. Endosonography can detect very small tumors (less than 5 millimeters in diameter). Using this method, the tumor can be punctured under ultrasound guidance.

Octreotide scintigraphy

This research method is based on the ability of tumor cells to bind octreoid on their surface. This substance is an active protein molecule. The patient is given an injection with this drug and waited for 24 hours. The accumulation of antibodies in the area of the tumor is detected externally using special devices.

Treatment

Treatment includes different methods:

  • surgical removal of the tumor,
  • radiochemotherapy,
  • stereotactic irradiation,
  • drug therapy,
  • relief therapy.

Surgery option

Based on the localization of the neoplasm, the surgeon removes the entire pancreas or only part of the organ. Adjacent organs (biliary tract, duodenum, spleen) are removed when metastases are found in them. This increases the chances of recovery.

Stereotactic radiosurgery

With this method of treatment, tumor tissues are targeted with high individual doses. Patients also receive chemotherapy with active substances before radiation therapy. In some patients, chemotherapy continues after radiation therapy until the disease progresses.

The effectiveness of therapy: more than 80% of patients live for more than a year and in half of them the tumor does not progress.

Drug therapy

Suitable for patients:

  • with local cancer,
  • with inoperable cancer,
  • with disseminated cancer.

A combination of the chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine and the tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib is used. These substances block the growth of tumor cells.

Published:

Updated:

Kateryna Maliarchuk
Medical author, Medical expert:
PhD. Olexandr Voznyak
Medical expert:

Information on this webpage verified by the medical expert

Kateryna Maliarchuk
Medical Doctor, oncologist, PHD student
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