AIM: To investigate the therapeutic effect of radical treatment and palliative treatment in stage Ⅳ pancreatic cancer patients.METHODS: 81 patients were enrolled in the study.Radical treatment was performed on 51 patients, while 30 patients were put under palliative treatment.The procedural safety and interval survival for stage Ⅳ pan creatic cancer (IS-IV) was assessed by almost 2.5 years offollowups.The IS-IV ofpatients under the two kinds of treatment, and the effects of treatment timing and frequency on IS-IV, were compared.RESULTS: The IS-IV ofpatients who received radi cal treatment was significantly longer than those who received palliative treatment (P< 0.001).The IS-IV ofpatients who received delayed radical or palliative treatment was longer than those who received accordingly timely treatment (=0.0034 and 0.0415, respectively).Multiple treatments can play an important role in improving the IS-IV ofpatients who received radical treatment (P=0.0389), but not for those who received palliative treatment (=0.99).CONCLUSION: The effect of radical treatment was significantly more obvious than that of palliative treat ment, and multiple radical treatments may contribute more to patients than a single radical treatment.