ABSTRACT
Cancers o f the Pancreas and Biliary Tract James C. Hebert Cancer o f the Pancreas Scope o f Problem C an cer o f the pancreas is a highly lethal disease w ith the w orst prognosis am ong
all the com m on malignancies. Although it accounts for only 2 % o f new cancer cases per year, it accounts for 5 % o f all cancer deaths per year and is currently the fourth leading cause o f can cer death o f b oth m en and w om en in the U nited States (Table 1 1 .1 ) . M ore than 2 8 ,0 0 0 Am ericans will be diagnosed in the year 2 0 0 0 with cancer o f the pancreas and an alm ost equal num ber will die o f this disease. W orld wide, pancreatic cancer ranks 13 th in incidence, but is the 9 th m ost com m on cause o f cancer death in both sexes w ith an estim ated 1 6 8 ,0 0 0 deaths per year. Less than 1 9 % o f patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will survive one year after diagno sis. T h e five-year survival rate is about 4 % .
