 In the list of cancer mortality by type of cancer pancreatic cancer ranks 4th in USA and the 6th in Europe. The estimated figures for 2010 in the USA were 42,000 new cases and 36,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer. The survival rate at 5 years after diagnosis is 4.6 in the USA. In Europe the figures are similar, with survival at 1, 3 and 5 years of 16, 6 and 4, respectively. Most patients are diagnosed in advanced stages that are no longer operable, so that treatment goals are often the prolongation of survival and palliation of symptoms. 