Diagnosed with lethal pancreatic cancer, Geri Perrotte made a desperate pilgrimage to the mecca of the medical world: Mayo Clinic. There, last November, doctors hoped to perform a complex operation to remove the tumor. Once they opened her up, however, they found the cancer was too advanced to remove, so the surgeon left the pancreas intact and stitched her up…

Mayo Clinic did not comment on Perrotte's case, but spokesman Karl Oestreich wrote that its surgeon is "perfectly capable" of removing pancreatic cancers involving the portal vein, but it's a question of whether it's worthwhile.

Daily Herald, by Robert McCoppin, 4/2010

Tags: Cancer, pancreatic cancer