Scripps Clinic’s Team Approach to Pancreatic Cancer

Dedicated to providing the best pancreatic cancer treatment possible, Scripps Clinic Pancreas and Biliary Cancer Program has special expertise when it comes to this disease. Our commitment to excellent comprehensive care has been recognized in two key ways — we are a PanCan Center of Excellence and are active members in the Pancreatic Cancer Research Team, a key pancreatic cancer consortium.

The Scripps Clinic program includes a multidisciplinary team of pathologists, radiation and medical oncologists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, nurses and radiologists. Together, the team routinely meets to review each patient’s unique clinical scenario and precisely diagnose and stage the cancer in order to develop a personalized treatment strategy.

Treatment at Scripps begins with expert diagnosis. Our gastroenterologists, pathologists and radiologists use advanced diagnostics to detect pancreatic and bile duct cancer.

“Within one week, the patient sees a surgeon and a specialist for pancreas cancer. They also receive chemotherapy, work with a specialist for radiation therapy and are introduced to all of the support systems available,” says Walter Coyle,MD, Scripps Clinic head of gastroenterology.

This comprehensive team approach to pancreas and biliary cancer began when the Scripps Clinic specialists realized that, “given the gravity of the situation that our patients were facing, we could make a much better and seamless process for them if we started working together behind the scenes," says Randolph Shaffer, MD, Scripps Clinic surgeon, pancreatic specialist.