Chris Ward
My 56 year old brother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer approx. 7 mos ago. It was caught early and had not spread. Surgery determined that the tumor was involved with the Mesenteric veins and artery. By virtue of the artery involvement it was decided that he was not a surgical candidate. Because it had not spread he was a candidate for a clinical trial using radiation and Tamoxifen. Now after all that and additional cat scans, the cancer still does not appear to have spread, but they are telling him (Dr. Concepcion - head of transplant dept. at Loma Linda, Riverside CA) that another operation to perform a whipple is still not an option. So it is "watch and wait". This means if he gets extremely lucky, he lives for awhile longer before mets. Unlucky, he gets mets very soon and dies. I find it hard to believe that there is not some hospital/Doctor somewhere in this world who has the skill/knowledge/balls to try an arterial / vein resection, followed by a whipple procedure. Any ideas out there? warmez@earthlink.net