Follow up after treatment for pancreatic cancer

Why you have follow up appointments

You have follow up appointments after treatment for pancreatic cancer. This is to check how you are and to see whether you have any problems or worries. It is also to check for signs of the cancer coming back.

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

• what treatments you had

• if you have any side effects that need checking on

You may have several different clinic appointments. This depends on how many health professionals are involved in your care. For example, you may have separate appointments with your dietitian, surgeon and oncologist.

Follow up is tailored to your needs. Your healthcare team usually tell you how long until your next appointment.

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.

After surgery to remove pancreatic cancer

You generally have a follow up appointment with your surgeon a few weeks after the operation. A specialist nurse may also call you after you go home to see how you are.

If all is well, you usually then have CT scans every 6 months for 5 years. After 5 years the regular scans may stop as there is less of a risk of the cancer coming back.

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

• if anything is worrying you

At each face to face appointment they also usually examine you. 

Your doctor asks you to have blood tests for each appointment. This is either before the appointment, or at the appointment. 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. 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 follow up appointments 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