Is pancreatic cancer curable?

Sometimes: Typical pancreatic cancer (adenocarcinoma) is sometimes, but only rarely, curable. It is usually diagnosed in an advanced state making cure with surgery less likely. If relatively localized, chemotherapy and radiation therapy can improve survival time.

Yes-though rarely: Pancreatic cancer is aggressive, and most of the time symptoms do not come to light until it cannot be surgically removed. The best chance for a cure is a small tumor without spread to lymph nodes, in a patient who can tolerate an operation to remove it, usually combined with chemotherapy, and many times radiation treatment.

Yes/no: It's one of the worst cancers and the cure rates are low. It also depends on the stage and location of the tumor. Some early detected cancers with a tumor location away from the duodenum and biliary pathways carry better prognosis than other types. Also, the longer the tumor doesn't give out metastasis, the higher the chance of cure.

Pancreatic cancer: The stated cure rate hovers around 3%. Those are sad statistics. The majority of those 3% had small tumors located near the "head" of the pancreas. The location of the tumor, lots if luck, surgery, and good underlying health are all factors if indeed there will be cures. An occasional patient will claim cure without surgery, but those people were probably misdiagnosed--or extraordinarily lucky.