Why is pancreatic cancer often incurable?

Caught late: Symptoms from pancreatic cancer often do not happen until it is in later stages where it starts to press on nerves or the bile tubes (causing jaundice). In addition, we do not have very effective chemotherapies to treat it once it has spread.

Stage at diagnosis: Pancreatic cancer is oftentimes incurable becase it has spread at the time of diagnosis and has become unresectable. Depending on where in the pancreas the cancer is the symptoms may not be noticed until it is very large or invading some other structures.