Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of different modalities for treatment of pancreatic cancer. Methods: The clinical data of 100 patients with pancreatic cancer admitted from January 2008 to February 2011 were analyzed. Of the patients, 30 cases underwent surgical resection alone (surgical treatment group), 30 cases received chemotherapy alone (chemotherapy group), 30 cases underwent surgical resection plus chemotherapy (combination treatment group) and the remaining 10 cases received other treatment (other treatment group). The survival status and adverse reactions after treatment among the groups were compared. Results: The median survival time of patients after treatment in surgical treatment group, chemotherapy group, combination treatment group and other treatment group was (13.77±1.44), (11.95±1.60), (17.26±1.44) and (2.89±1.46) months respectively, and the survival status of combination treatment group was significantly better than that of the other three groups (χ2=45.96, P=0.000). The overall incidence of adverse reaction in combination treatment group (3.33%) was significantly lower than that in surgical treatment group (26.67%), chemotherapy group (30.00%) and other treatment group (30.00%) (χ2=8.178, P=0.04). Conclusion: For pancreatic cancer patients, treatment approaches should vary according to the individual clinical circumstances, but the surgery-based multimodality treatment remains the most effective method.