Hospital da Luz Learning Health, with scientific sponsorship from the Portuguese Society of Gastroenterology and the Portuguese Society of Surgery, held, on November 19, World Pancreatic Cancer Day, a webinar that brought together some of the best national and international specialists in this area and where the main challenges associated with the treatment of pancreatic cancer were evaluated. This is the third most common malignant neoplasm of the digestive system in Portugal, after colon and stomach cancer, and it is estimated that about 1400 new cases arise annually . Ralph Hrubran, from Johns Hopkins University, USA, opened the work of this online webinar with a presentation on why pancreatic cancer continues to be so lethal, followed by two round tables on the epidemiology and risk factors of this disease. pathology. The surgical challenges of the treatment of pancreatic cancer and the state of the art of this treatment were other topics debated by the participants, in interventions by national and foreign specialists, with the last presentation by Thilo Hackert, from the University Hospital of Heidelberg, Germany. The session was closed by the 2 main organizers, Rui Maio, clinical director of Hospital da Luz Lisboa and director of surgery at Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, and Jorge Paulino, general surgery specialist at Hospital Curry Cabral, Lisbon. The webinar had almost three hundred subscribers, and more than 200 specialists were online , throughout the presentations and debates. In the end, many of them expressed their thanks in writing for the quality of the webinar and the contribution of the speakers. As for pancreatic cancer, the attention and study of this pathology by its specialists is increasingly important, since «the predictions are that, until 2030, it will be the second leading cause of cancer mortality, only surpassed by lung cancer. . In this sense, this webinar was another step towards an analysis of the evolution of what has been done and what are the solutions for the future, in terms of the approach that must be adopted in order to guarantee therapeutic success», explained Rui Maio. At the time of pancreatic cancer diagnosis, only 20% of patients are susceptible to direct surgery. 50% of tumors are unresectable, so patients can only undergo palliative therapy. And about 30% are resectable borderline, that is, patients need neoadjuvant therapy (chemotherapy and / or radiotherapy), to have the possibility of a posteriori surgical intervention.
