Peter Allen, MD, recently spoke on the evolving role of surgery in pancreatic cancer in a conversation published in Carcinogenesis.
Allen, who serves as vice president for cancer services at Duke University Health System, has spent his career researching pancreatic cancer and seen treatment of the disease evolve to include more biological, immunological, and pharmacological approaches, in addition to surgery.
“I have always been interested in how surgery became such a predominant modality in the treatment of localized pancreatic cancer, given that systemic recurrence and early death from disseminated disease was so common following resection,” Allen said.
Allen said that while pancreatic cancer is fundamentally a systemic disease, surgery remains critical for patients with localized tumors, providing the longest survival outcomes despite limited curative potential. He emphasized the need for effective systemic treatments to complement surgery.
“I do feel that surgery plays a role in the management of patients with resectable pancreatic cancer, however without effective systemic therapy, surgical intervention will have limited benefit,” Allen said.
In light of emerging approaches like vaccines and Ras therapies, Allen noted the potential of combining surgery with immunotherapies in the future. He also mentioned a future study he is working on that seeks to identify biomarkers of progression to determine pancreatic cancer patients who could benefit from early interventions.
“I have been waiting for a long time for better systemic therapies for pancreatic cancer, and we look forward to playing a bigger role in patient management,” Allen said.
