Neoadjuvant therapy for pancreas cancer: Past lessons and future therapies

Figure 1 Survival in patients with pancreatic cancer who undergo neoadjuvant therapy vs a surgery-first approach. Survival curves for patients who complete multimodality therapy, inclusive of chemoradiation and curative-intent resection, incorporating major postoperative complications or those who never undergo resection.

Figure 2 Outcomes in patients who undergo neoadjuvant therapy. Of those patients with potentially resectable pancreatic tumors who undergo chemoradiation, 71% went on to undergo complete surgical resection. Reasons for not undergoing complete resection included declaration of distant metastases, prohibitive performance status, anatomically unresectable locally-advanced tumor, and patient refusal.