The pancreas is located in the abdomen, is about 6 inches long, and is shaped like a flat pear. It creates enzymes that help digest food, allowing for the body to be able to receive the nutrition it needs to survive. The pancreas also is responsible for making insulin and other hormones that enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body. This function is thought to be responsible for how easily the cancer cells break off the primary tumor and spread through the body.
Pancreatic Cancer
After a patient is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, there are a limited number of treatments available. These treatments narrow even further the more advanced the cancer is at diagnosis.
Unfortunately, the outlook for pancreatic cancer patients is grim. With the 5 year survival rate at 5%, there is a definite need for a treatment that works. Since the current treatments are so ineffective, the primary focus of pancreatic cancer treatment is patient comfort rather than disease eradication.
If there was a treatment that could eliminate the dormant distant cancer cells before they began to grow, the current treatments would be an option for even the most advanced stages of pancreatic cancer. As DormaTarg targets the dormant cancer cells that are the most destructive, there is now hope for a reasonable chance of survival for all pancreatic cancer patients.
