A study says that radiation therapy can improve longevity in patients with rare pancreatic cancer called pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNTs).

The researchers discovered that this technique is successful in achieving local control and palliation in PNTs, despite such tumours being commonly considered resistant to radiation therapy.

 PNT is a very uncommon form of pancreatic cancer that can stay confined in the liver and often cause death from liver damage. As it is usually unable to be removed by surgery, external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is a smart option for managing the disease.

However, the task of EBRT is mainly unknown because of the low occurrence of this tumour type and, as a result, very few related studies.

Researchers at the departments of radiation oncology and internal medicine, division of oncology and comprehensive cancer center biostatistics unit at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., wanted to find out if PNTs are not as resistant to radiation therapy as was previously presumed.

Thus, they appraised records from 36 patients with PNTs who were treated between 1986 and 2006 with radiation therapy to 49 sites. The researchers discovered that in 39 percent of patients the tumour contracted to less than half its pretreatment size after being treated with EBRT.

Also, radiation therapy treatments attained high rates of local control and 90 percent of patients experienced palliation of symptoms like pain, nausea, vomiting or obstructive jaundice.

"While this particular type of cancer can have potentially devastating effects on a patient, this study proves that using external beam radiation therapy may permit these patients to live longer, which is a very positive breakthrough for a disease that can have very negative outcomes,” said Dr. Theodore S. Lawrence, an author on the study.

The finding is published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology.