Open AccessThe benefit of adjuvant radiotherapy on overall survival in resected stage I to II pancreatic cancer: A propensity-adjusted analysis
Author(s) -
Zhuangbin Lin,
Junxian Song,
Anchuan Li,
Cheng Chen,
Xiaoxue Huang,
Benhua Xu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243170
Subject(s) - medicine , propensity score matching , stage (stratigraphy) , pancreatic cancer , port (circuit theory) , subgroup analysis , radiation therapy , surgery , surveillance, epidemiology, and end results , survival analysis , overall survival , lymph node , cancer , gastroenterology , confidence interval , cancer registry , paleontology , electrical engineering , biology , engineering
Background The survival time of patients with early pancreatic cancer (PC) is still disappointing, even after surgical resection. PC has an extremely poor prognosis. Herein, we aimed to investigate the survival effect of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) on resected stage I to II PC. Material and methods A large eligible sample of patients was identified from 2010 to 2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry. Survival analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of PORT. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to reduce selection bias and to make the groups comparable. Results A total of 3219 patients with resected stage I to II PC was included after rigid screening. The median overall survival (OS) was 26 months with PORT (n = 1055) versus 21 months with non-PORT (n = 2164) before matching (p<0.001). By multivariable analysis, PORT remained a favorable prognostic predictor for OS. In PSM analysis, receiving PORT was associated with improved OS (median, 26 months vs. 23 months; at 2 years, 51.7% vs. 46.7%; at 5 years, 23.3% vs. 17.4% (P = 0.006). After further meticulous exploration, only the stage IIB subgroup benefited from PORT (p<0.001). This result was due to the positive lymph node state (N+), whose mortality risk was cut by 23.4% (p<0.001) by PORT. Conclusion Addition of PORT to the treatment of patients with resected stage I to II PC conveys a survival benefit, particularly among those with N-positive or stage IIB disease.