If a Whipple procedure is done on the right patient for the right reason at the right time by the right surgeon, patients can expect a full return to the quality of life they had before cancer.
For some pancreatic patients, however, a complex surgery known as the Whipple procedure may extend life and could be a potential cure. Those who undergo a successful Whipple procedure may have a five-year survival rate of up to 25%.
In the ~20% of patients who are diagnosed when the disease is still operable, surgery is the only treatment that can provide a chance of cure. Unfortunately, up to 75% of patients undergoing surgery will have the cancer come back (recur).
But a Whipple procedure is a very complex operation that often causes major changes to the digestive system. This can translate into some serious long-term effects, including abdominal discomfort, weight loss, digestive problems, and chronic fatigue.
For most tumors and cancers of the pancreas, the Whipple procedure is the only known cure.
The Whipple procedure is almost always recommended for pancreatic cancer, which has 2 main types: adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas. It is sometimes also performed for cancers in the bile duct passing through the head of the pancreas and ending in the small intestine.
Laparoscopic Whipple Maximizes Benefits
Only about 20 to 30% of patients, like O'Day, are diagnosed when the cancer can be successfully removed, explained Perez. The Whipple procedure, or pancreatoduodenectomy, is the only possible chance for a cure.
Complete recovery from the Whipple procedure can take up to two months. But in rare cases, it can take up to six months to recover. Patients usually need to take a daily vitamin with iron and a daily medication to reduce stomach acid. Some patients temporarily have trouble regulating their blood sugar levels.
Whipple Surgery by the Numbers
The procedure takes 4-12 hours. Recovery in the hospital can last 7-14 days. Healing at home takes about 2 weeks. You can return to normal life after 4-6 weeks.
The most common complication is post-op leaking of pancreatic juices from the site of the incision. A drain may need to be inserted through the skin to allow for the juices to drain, perhaps for several weeks. A rare but severe complication after surgery is bleeding from the gastroduodenal artery.
Despite the overall poor prognosis and the fact that the disease is mostly incurable, pancreatic cancer has the potential to be curable if caught very early. Up to 10 percent of patients who receive an early diagnosis become disease-free after treatment.
Around 10 out of 100 people (around 10%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis. Only 1 out of 100 people (1%) survive their cancer for 3 years or more after diagnosis. These statistics are from a study which included over 35 000 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 7 countries.
Cure of pancreatic cancer is rare. If caught at a very early stage when surgical removal of the tumor is possible, the estimated 5-year survival rate is 42%. Only about 15% of people are diagnosed at this stage.
A Whipple procedure increases your chances of long-term survival with pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, very few people survive pancreatic cancer. Only about 8.5% of people with pancreatic cancer live for five years. If you have the Whipple procedure, your chances increase to 25%.
Avoid fried, greasy and fatty foods. These foods are hard to digest with an altered pancreas. Choose baked, broiled, or grilled foods instead. After a Whipple procedure, it is often recommended to limit fat intake to no more than 40-60 grams per day.
You should be offered chemotherapy after surgery to remove the cancer (such as the Whipple's procedure), to try to reduce the chances of the cancer coming back.
Caused by a bacterium called Tropheryma whipplei, the disorder can affect any system in the body, including the brain, eyes, heart, joints, and lungs, but usually occurs in the gastrointestinal system.
Removing the pancreas can also reduce the body's ability to absorb nutrients from food. Without artificial insulin injections and digestive enzymes, a person without a pancreas cannot survive. One 2016 study found that about three-quarters of people without cancer survived at least 7 years following pancreas removal.
The median survival for untreated advanced pancreatic cancer is about 3 1/2 months; with good treatment this increases to about eight months, though many will live much longer. We have encountered nine and eleven and twelve year survivors. Perhaps it is a good place to discuss what the term median means.
Recurrence of pancreatic cancer is common after operation. Intraabdominal recurrence ranged 38% to 86%[1-3]. Factors influencing recurrence in some studies included lymph node metastasis[4,5], tumor size[5,6], and tumor in surgical resection[5-7].
Whipple disease is extremely uncommon, affecting fewer than 1 in 1 million people.
But you can in fact live without a pancreas. Thanks to advancements in Medicine and the technology with which to administer it, we can now more effectively than ever reproduce what the pancreas does when it becomes necessary to remove all or part of the organ because of pancreatic cancer or other pancreatic diseases.
You may have an operation that's similar to the Whipple's, but none of the stomach is removed. This is called a pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy (PPPD). As part of your pancreas is removed, your digestion may be affected. You may need pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) to help you digest food.
Cancer survival rates often use a five-year survival rate. That doesn't mean cancer can't recur beyond five years. Certain cancers can recur many years after first being found and treated. For some cancers, if it has not recurred by five years after initial diagnosis, the chance of a later recurrence is very small.