The role of neoadjuvant treatment in localized pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic carcinoma is a prognostically unfavorable cancer disease with growing incidence and mortality, which is the 3rd most common cause of cancer-related death in developed countries. The 5-year survival rate does not exceed 11% and is the lowest across all cancer diagnoses. Only about 20–30% of patients have resectable (RPC) or borderline resectable (BRPC) disease at the time of diagnosis. Radical resection is an essential therapeutic modality in these cases and is considered the only potentially curative procedure. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or chemoradiotherapy is established mainly in BRPC. The role of neoadjuvant therapy in RPC is currently under investigation. This review article describes the current options, advantages and disadvantages of neoadjuvant treatment in BRPC and RPC.