Although upfront surgery has been the gold standard for pancreatic adenocarcinoma that is planned for resection, it should be compared with the alternative strategy of neoadjuvant therapy. Despite the many reports of the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy, most of them were not comparative. Recently Prep-02/JSAP05 study clearly demonstrated the significant survival benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy over upfront surgery for pancreatic adenocarcinoma that is planned for resection. These findings opened a new chapter of neoadjuvant therapy. Ongoing trials are expected to confirm the evidence. This review summarizes the past, present, and future perspectives of neoadjuvant therapy and its optimization.
Keywords: neoadjuvant chemotherapy; neoadjuvant therapy; pancreatic adenocarcinoma; resectable pancreatic cancer.
© 2020 The Authors. Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.