Jeffrey Matthews, MD, FACS, discusses his research in the field of Pancreatic Cancer treatment.
JEFFREY MATTHEWS: Our multi-disciplinary pancreas cancer has a number of exciting research projects, which include evaluation of patients and how they recover from major pancreatic surgery, understanding who recovers best from the pancreatic operation to help us understand what patients are experiencing, and what life after a pancreas operation will be like. We work together in collaboration with our geriatric medicine program to evaluate patients who are undergoing major pancreatic resection. Other studies include evaluation of patients with cystic diseases of the pancreas to better select which patients need operations and which patients can be followed by serial imaging studies. We also have a number of investigations with respect to treatment of patients with idiopathic, recurrent, acute, and chronic pancreatitis. And this includes our innovative approach to pancreatic islet auto-transplantation. Together with our pancreatic transplant surgeons, we're one of the few centers in the United States that offers pancreatic islet auto-transplantation as an adjunct to major pancreatic resection. Finally, we are investigating the appropriate application of minimally invasive technologies to pancreatic surgery and the management of pancreatic disease.
