Studying the post-operatory and molecular modifications in the chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer - The Importance of the micronutrients and pancreatic enzyme supplementation

The pancreatic cancer is a disorder with an exponentially increased incidence, especially over the last few years. Moreover, it is estimated that almost 95% of the patients with this disease are presenting to the hospital in the advanced and unresectable stages. Also, over the past few decades the development and advance of the surgical methods and techniques have improved, with the most of the operatory actions in the chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer being represented by the whipple duodeno-pancreatectomy, which in fact represents the standard resection for tumors of the duodenum, as well as the hepatopancreatic ampulla of Vater, distal choledocus and the head of the pancreas. Moreover, it is important to mention that in these cases, after an extended resection and reconstruction of the upper gastrointestinal tract, the digestive physiology will be disrupted. In addition, previous studies have shown that patients can maintain a body mass index after surgery but often this will be lower than its preoperative value. Thus, considering the aforementioned aspects, in the present mini-review we were mainly interested in presenting also the relevance of the micronutrients such as iron, selenium, vitamin D and E, zinc or copper in this complicated area of research, as well as aspects regarding the correlations between immune function and micronutrients or the pancreatic enzyme supplementation.