1. Conventional treatment for resectable pancreatic cancer involving surgery and adjuvant chemoradiation has shown limited success, with few long-term survivors and significant treatment-related toxicity.
2. Preoperative chemoradiation using gemcitabine has shown promise in improving resectability and survival rates compared to postoperative chemoradiation or surgery alone, while avoiding unnecessary surgeries.
3. Combining gemcitabine with newer chemotherapy agents like capecitabine may allow higher drug doses with reduced toxicity when combined with radiation, improving patient outcomes.