Pancreatic cancer often doesn’t have any symptoms in its early stages, making it difficult to detect and diagnose until it becomes more advanced. That’s why it’s essential to have an experienced cancer care team on your side. At CPMC's Cancer Center, doctors have access to advanced diagnostic techniques to identify tumors, such as somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography.
Our accredited cancer center has been a leader in hepatobiliary and pancreas surgery since the founding of our liver transplant program in 1988. Doctors at CPMC are closely involved in clinical research and surgical innovation. Annually, physicians at CPMC provide care to 4,000 hepatobiliary and pancreas patients, both in San Francisco and at our network of outreach sites in California and Nevada.
Once identified, common methods of treatment include chemotherapy, drug therapy and radiation therapy. For some cancers, we offer the latest and most advanced surgical techniques, including biliary bypass surgery, embolization therapy, distal pancreatectomy and the Whipple procedure. (At California Pacific Medical Center, surgeons perform more than 50 Whipple procedures annually.) Your doctor will work with you to determine the best treatment option for you.
Throughout the diagnostic and treatment process, our doctors and specialists work with you to provide pain management and palliative services to keep you feeling as well as possible. In addition, we offer special services and support, such as support groups, nutritional counseling and integrative medical therapies.
