Dr. Elizabeth Jaffey, a pancreatic cancer specialist in Johns Hopkins Medicine, also emphasized the location of the patient’s metastasis or the location of the cancer. Metastases occurred only in the patient’s lungs. Most patients with pancreatic cancer have metastases to the liver and are more difficult to treat.
“I want to see the liver lesions gone,” said Dr. Jaffy.
The successfully treated patient, Kathy Wilkes, is 71 years old and lives in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida. It is too early for her to know if the cancer will come back.
New developments in cancer research
Progress in the field. In recent years, advances in research have changed the way cancer is treated. The latest updates are:
Wilkes’ cancer was terrible.
“This woman had failed with all the treatments available,” said Dr. Janagin, who did not treat Mr. Wilkes but reviewed her case. Usually, in such cases, the cancer develops resistance to additional treatment.
“In most cases, cancer wins in that situation-immediately,” he said.
Wilkes first noticed the symptoms of pancreatic cancer in 2015. She was tired, lethargic, and had severe pain attacks. Initially, her tumor did not appear on the scan. But by early 2018, a tumor had appeared — a 3.5 cm mass on the head of her pancreas.
After receiving chemotherapy, the surgeon underwent severe surgery (whipped surgery) to remove the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine, the gallbladder, and the bile ducts. After that, she received more chemotherapy, followed by radiation therapy and more chemotherapy.
The cancer disappeared from her pancreas, but nodules appeared in her lungs — metastases. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy continued throughout 2018.
“I did it. I was certainly not ready to die,” Wilkes said. “I put this voice in and said,’You can make this the best.'”
