Published in:
Open Access 01-12-2014 | Research
Clinical and pathological features of five-year survivors after pancreatectomy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma
Published in: World Journal of Surgical Oncology | Issue 1/2014
Login to get accessAbstract
Background
Clinical factors determining short-term survival after pancreatectomy have been well studied, but factors predicting long-term survival with curative resection are poorly understood in pancreatic carcinoma. Our objective was to identify clinical and pathological features of five-year disease-free survivors after surgical resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Methods
The clinical and pathological data from 147 patients who underwent a potentially curative resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma at our institution between 1988 and 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results
Of 147 patients, 18 survived for more than five years after surgery without disease recurrence. A univariate analyses demonstrated that: two or fewer lymph node metastases (P = 0.014), a preoperative serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) level of 40 U/mL or less (P = 0.0018), an absence of intrapancreatic nerve invasion (P = 0.028), and undergoing an R0 resection (P = 0.011) were significantly associated with five-year survival. A logistic regression model identified the following independent cancer-related predictors of five-year survivors: having two or fewer lymph node metastases (odds ratio (OR): 6.02; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08 to 112.98; P = 0.0385), a preoperative serum CA19-9 level of 40 U/mL or less (OR: 5.02; 95% CI: 1.68 to 16.48; P = 0.0036), and undergoing an R0 resection (OR: 3.63; 95% CI: 1.12 to 14.28; P = 0.0316).
Conclusions
We conclude that number of lymph node metastases being two or less, a preoperative serum CA19-9 level of 40 U/mL or less, and undergoing an R0 resection may be independent predictive factors to identify actual five-year survivors after pancreatectomy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.