Dr. Elizabeth Jafi, a specialist in pancreatic cancer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, also highlighted the location of the patient’s metastases or where the cancer had spread. Metastases occur only in the patient’s lungs. Most patients with pancreatic cancer have liver metastases that are more difficult to treat.
“I would like to see the liver lesions disappear,” said Dr. Jaffee.
Katie Wilkes, the patient who was successfully treated, is 71 years old and lives in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida. It is too early to know if the cancer will return.
New developments in cancer research
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Progress in the field. In recent years, advances in research have changed the way cancer is treated. Here are some recent updates:
chemotherapy. A silent revolution in cancer treatment is under way: an increasing number of patients, especially those with breast and lung cancer, have been spared the dreaded treatment in favor of other options.
leukemia. After receiving a new treatment called CAR T cell therapy more than a decade ago, two patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia saw the blood cancer go away. Their cases offer hope for those with the disease and create some new mysteries.
Esophageal cancer. Levelnab, an immune-boosting drug, has been found to prolong survival in patients with the disease who have participated in a large clinical trial. Esophageal cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the world.
Mrs. Wilkes’ cancer was severe.
“This lady had all the treatments available and was unsuccessful,” said Dr. Jarnagin, who did not treat Ms. Wilkes but reviewed her case. Usually in such cases, the cancer has developed resistance to any additional treatments.
“For most in this situation, cancer will win – soon,” he said.
Ms. Wilkes first noticed symptoms that were later attributed to pancreatic cancer in 2015. She was tired, lethargic and had bouts of severe pain. Initially, tumors do not appear on scan. But in early 2018, a tumor appeared – a 3.5-centimeter mass in the head of the pancreas.
She underwent chemotherapy, followed by a grueling operation – the Whipple procedure – in which surgeons removed the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine, the gallbladder and the bile duct. She then had more chemotherapy, followed by radiation and even more chemotherapy.
The cancer disappeared from her pancreas, but metastases appeared in her lungs. Chemotherapy and radiation continued in 2018.
“I just went through this. “I was certainly not ready to die,” said Mrs. Wilkes. I had a voice inside that said, “You can make this one better.”
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