Follow up after treatment for pancreatic cancer

Why you have follow up appointments

You usually have follow up appointments to check how you are and see whether you have any problems or worries.

The type of follow up you have depends on if you had treatment to try to cure pancreatic cancer or relieve the symptoms.

How often are your follow up appointments?

How often you see your specialist can vary from hospital to hospital. It also depends on:

• how you are feeling

• the type of treatment you have had

• if you have any side effects that need checking on

You may have several different clinic appointments depending on how many health professionals are involved in your care.

Follow up is tailored to your needs. Before you leave hospital, you are usually told when you will next have an appointment.

Contact your specialist nurse if you are expecting an appointment but haven’t heard anything.

After surgery to remove your cancer, you generally have a follow up appointment with your surgeon a few weeks after the operation. If all is well, you then have 6 monthly CT scans for 5 years. After 5 years the regular scans may stop as there is less of a risk of the cancer coming back.

As a guide you generally have a CT scan every 6 months. This depends on what treatment you have had. Your doctor or nurse will tell you what to expect for your situation.

What happens during follow up appointments?

You may have a mixture of face to face, telephone or video calls for some of your follow up appointments.

Your doctor or specialist nurse ask how you are feeling, whether you have had any symptoms or side effects, and if anything is worrying you. At each face to face appointment they also usually examine you. 

You are likely to have blood tests at or before most appointments. You may also have some other tests, but not as often. These may include:

• CT scan

• MRI scan

• ultrasound scan

You might also have a test for ​tumour markers, which means that it can be a sign that pancreatic cancer cells are in the body.

If your tumour marker levels are going up it could be a sign that the cancer has come back or is growing.

Between appointments

Many people find their check ups quite worrying. A hospital appointment can bring back any anxiety you had about your cancer.

It can help to tell someone close to you how you’re feeling. Sharing your worries can mean they don’t seem so overwhelming. Many people find it helpful to have counselling after cancer treatment.

Read about counselling and how to find a counsellor

You can also find people to share experiences with by using our online forum, Cancer Chat.

Find out more at Cancer Chat