Pancreatic Cancer Care

You are never alone on your pancreatic cancer healing journey. 

Our promise is that your care will be equal parts pioneering medicine and thoughtful emotional support.

Our approach to pancreatic cancer care

You may feel understandably overwhelmed after getting a serious diagnosis.

To help you heal, we are deeply committed to working with you as a unified, multidisciplinary team. Our specialists are in constant dialogue with each other, maintaining quick, efficient communication. We approach your case as a team so that you benefit from our collective wisdom and clinical experience. Our multidisciplinary tumor board meets weekly. The practitioners who attend include surgeons, medical oncologists, interventional radiologists and radiation oncologists. They review your imaging scans, discuss your case and come to a consensus about treatment options. At that point they’ll make one referral instead of sending you to multiple doctors, saving you time and energy.

Our multidisciplinary team also helps those at high risk

We collaborate with gastrointestinal surgeons, oncologists and genetic specialists to screen, survey and treat patients who are at especially high-risk for pancreatic cancer. If you have a family history or another condition that puts you at higher-than-normal risk, we run a high-risk clinic. You can always reach out to us directly by calling for more information.

We care for you as if you were a family member.

Why choose UCI Health for pancreatic cancer care?

We have a great deal of experience – ask us anything

As an academic hospital, we treat, and we teach. We’re prepared to answer any questions you have, even the difficult ones. 

But more than that, our pancreas specialists only diagnose and treat pancreas conditions. We treat an exceptionally high volume of pancreatic cancer patients. It’s been studied and proven that getting treated at a high-volume center translates to less mortality and higher survival rates.

Our nursing staff also has deep expertise in pancreatic conditions. Along with our residents, they observe, troubleshoot, answer questions and provide support.

We use only the most innovative techniques available

We diagnose and treat pancreatic cancer patients using a variety of procedures:

• ERCP, a highly specialized, minimally invasive diagnostic and treatment procedure
• Open surgery, such as the Whipple procedure
• Laparoscopic surgery
• Robotic surgery

When it’s possible to use minimally invasive techniques, the benefits include less scarring and pain, quicker recovery time and fewer side effects.

The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is a nationally recognized leader

We are a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, one of only 57 in the country.

What that means for you:

• a highly collaborative, specialized and multidisciplinary team working on your behalf
• a higher long-term survival rate compared to centers that are not NCI-designated
• access to leading-edge techniques

As Orange County’s only academic medical center, we offer innovative clinical trials

We offer robust clinical trials that test medications and approaches to pancreatic cancer. If you qualify for an appropriate trial, you could benefit from novel treatments not yet widely available.

We take a whole-person approach that includes robust emotional and practical support

Our Cancer Support Services program can connect you with social workers, chaplains and refer you to additional community resources.

If you need help getting meals prepared, handling your finances, or want to discuss a spiritual perspective, reach out. We’ll help you take care of daily life. That way you can focus on getting better.