Hepatobiliary and pancreatic (HPB) cancers rank among the most technically demanding in surgical oncology. The liver’s rich blood supply, the pancreas’s proximity to major vessels, and the delicate anatomy of the bile ducts mean that safe, effective surgery requires deep experience, careful pre-operative planning, and a team prepared to manage complexity at every step.

Treatment begins with detailed staging — cross-sectional imaging, tumour markers, and where needed, endoscopic or biopsy assessment — to map the tumour’s relationship to critical blood vessels and surrounding organs. Surgical planning accounts for the remaining liver or pancreatic function that must be preserved, often supported by liver volumetry or specialised imaging before major resections. Procedures range from focused liver resections and minimally invasive gallbladder cancer surgery to major undertakings such as the Whipple procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy), sometimes involving reconstruction of adjacent blood vessels when the tumour is close to them.

Because HPB cancers often call for treatment sequencing — chemotherapy before or after surgery, or combined approaches for advanced disease — every case is reviewed by a multidisciplinary tumour board of surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, and gastroenterology, ensuring the surgical plan fits within a coordinated, whole-patient treatment strategy.