Hello and thank you for your post,

I am very sorry to hear about your dad's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and that he also has other health problems. This must be a difficult time for you all.

I can appreciate that you want to know if a second opinion will change his situation. However, it is likely that while he has an infection that treatment cannot be given safely until the infection clears. 

If you and your dad want a second opinion he can ask for it and his doctor as well as the 2nd opinion doctor have to agree to do the referral.  Your dad's cancer specialist or GP can do it.  I need to say that getting a second opinion does not always mean there is a change in how someone is treated but I think this is still something that some people have to do.We have information on our website about this process here  

I am afraid that we cannot recommend a specialist and there is no list telling you who is the best. In the UK people with pancreatic cancer are treated in cancer centres within District General hospitals. There are two cancer hospitals in the UK and they are called The Royal Marsden Hospital (London)  and The Christie Hospital (Manchester). As I said there there are many other NHS hospitals which treat people with cancer, and you can look for these on the NHS Choices website https://www.nhs.uk/

The Private Health website has information about private hospitals in the UK.

If your dad wanted to look into the option of a trial, it would be best to talk this over with his specialist team. To join a trial   he would need a medical referral from his current specialist. However, I feel I need to say that because he has an infection and is currently on a treatment protocol (even though it is on hold) it is likely that he could not join one.  

We have more information about trials and a trials database at this link here  If you search by cancer type there is a filter to the left of the screen which allows you to select trials looking just at treatment (select trial type).

The option of a trial isn't necessarily as straightforward as it seems. This is because all trials have strict entry requirements, so unfortunately it isn't always possible to find one that is suitable. And the design of a trial can mean that some participants only have standard treatment and not the treatment under investigation. Also, people have to be fit enough to take part which can be a stumbling block sometimes. And while a trial is still in progress, it isn't possible to predict how beneficial the treatment on trial will be.

I hope this has been of some help. Please do get back to us if you have any more questions or give us a call us on 0808 800 4040 for a chat. We are here from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Take care,

Caroline