Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore. “In particular, because we know this cancer has approximately a 90% mortality once developed.”
Speaking at a media conference, he cautioned that these types of surgeries “are among the largest abdominal operations performed.” That means a high risk for complications, and post-surgery recovery time typically approaches three months.
“Thus, surgery must be reserved for only those who would truly benefit,” said Wolfgang, co-director of Hopkins’ Precision Medicine Center of Excellence for Pancreatic Cancer.
With that goal in mind, he and his colleagues analyzed cyst samples from more than 860 surgical patients at 16 different medical centers around the world.
Such fluid-filled pancreatic lesions are found in roughly 800,000 Americans every year, investigators noted, including about 4% of those in their
