Neoadjuvant therapy for pancreas cancer: Past lessons and future therapies

Table 1 Rationale for patient selection for neoadjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer

Rationale in support of neoadjuvant therapy
Increasing the likelihood of margin-negative resection[4,20-25]
Increasing the likelihood of completion of multimodality therapy[5,26-29]
Increasing efficacy of radiotherapy[4,24]
Minimizing pancreatic leak (without increasing complications)[19,30-34]
Determination of indeterminant lesions[29,35]
Declaration of distant metastases[4,29]
Decreasing “open-and-close” rates[19]
Allowing a patient’s functional status to declare itself[36]
Improved cost-effectiveness[37]