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Does postoperative chemotherapy have a survival benefit for patients with pancreatic cancer?
Author(s) -
Tani Masaji,
Kawai Manabu,
Terasawa Hiroshi,
Ina Shinomi,
Hirono Seiko,
Uchiyama Kazuhisa,
Yamaue Hiroki
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.20440
Subject(s) - medicine , chemotherapy , pancreatic cancer , stage (stratigraphy) , pancreas , gastroenterology , pancreatic carcinoma , survival rate , cancer , surgery , carcinoma , oncology , paleontology , biology
In our study, we investigated whether postoperative chemotherapy improved survival in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the pancreas. Between 1987 and 2004, 111 patients underwent pancreatic resection against invasive ductal carcinoma of the pancreas in Wakayama Medical University Hospital. Median survival time (MST) was 19.4 months, 8.6 months, and 7.2 months, in JPS Stage III (UICC Stage IIA and IIB), JPS Stage IVa (UICC Stage IIA and IIB), and JPS Stage IVb (UICC Stage IV), respectively ( P < 0.01). The MST of the chemotherapy group was 12 months, and the MST of the non‐chemotherapy group was 8.4 months ( P < 0.05). Moreover, in JPS Stage IV (UICC Stage IIA, IIB, III, and IV) highly advanced pancreatic cancer, the MST of the chemotherapy group was 10.9 months, and the MST of the group without chemotherapy was 6.6 months ( P < 0.01). Since pancreatic cancer is characterized by an aggressive tumor with a high recurrent rate, postoperative chemotherapy is effective for an improvement of survival. J. Surg. Oncol. 2006;93:485–490. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.