I know a couple of surgeons refused to operate on pancreatic cancer without PET results when the cancer was shrunk to 1-2 centimeters. Even if there are metastatic sites and the metastasized cells grow, the original cancer would still be removed, we’d have fewer cancer cells overall. What is the reason that doctors don’t do it?
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Once you’ve been “staged” in Stage IV metastatic pancreatic cancer, surgery can no longer remove the cancer. It has already spread to other organs. At that point, surgery (which is invasive and traumatic to the body to begin with) is an ineffective treatment option. It does not improve a patient’s prognosis to put them through surgery at that point. That is why most doctors wait to see what stage you are in to form a treatment plan. Stage IV patients are considered ineligible for surgical intervention.
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