Evaluation of Short- and Long-Term Outcomes After Resection in Patients with Locally Advanced versus (Borderline) Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

Lilly J H Brada; Thijs J Schouten; Lois A Daamen; Leonard W F Seelen; Marieke S Walma; Ronald van Dam; Ignace H de Hingh; Mike S L Liem; Vincent E de Meijer; Gijs A Patijn; Sebastiaan Festen; Martijn W J Stommel; Koop Bosscha; Marc G Besselink; Hjalmar C van Santvoort; Izaak Quintus Molenaar; Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group

doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000006289

Evaluation of Short- and Long-Term Outcomes After Resection in Patients with Locally Advanced versus (Borderline) Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

Ann Surg. 2024 Apr 1. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006289. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lilly J H Brada^{1

2

3}, Thijs J Schouten¹, Lois A Daamen¹, Leonard W F Seelen¹, Marieke S Walma¹, Ronald van Dam^{4

5}, Ignace H de Hingh^{6

7}, Mike S L Liem⁸, Vincent E de Meijer⁹, Gijs A Patijn¹⁰, Sebastiaan Festen¹¹, Martijn W J Stommel¹², Koop Bosscha¹³, Marc G Besselink^{2

3}, Hjalmar C van Santvoort¹, Izaak Quintus Molenaar¹; Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, UMC Utrecht Cancer Center and St Antonius Hospital Nieuwegein: Regional Academic Cancer Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
² Amsterdam UMC, location University of Amsterdam, Department of Surgery, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
³ Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Surgery, Maastricht UMC+, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
⁵ Department of General and Viseral Surgery, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Aachen.
⁷ Department of Surgery, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
⁸ Department of Surgery, Medical Spectrum Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands.
⁹ Department of Surgery, University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
¹⁰ Department of Surgery, Isala, Zwolle, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Department of Surgery, OLVG, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹² Department of Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Surgery, Jeroen Bosch Hospital, 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.

PMID: 38557955
DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006289

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to evaluate short- and long-term outcomes following pancreatectomy in patients with LAPC compared to (B)RPC patients.

Summary background data: Selected patients diagnosed with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) are increasingly undergoing resection following induction chemotherapy. To evaluate the benefit of this treatment approach, it is helpful to compare outcomes in resected patients with primary LAPC to outcomes in resected patients with primary (borderline) resectable pancreatic cancer ((B)RPC).

Methods: Two prospectively maintained nationwide databases were used for this study. Patients with (B)RPC undergoing upfront tumor resection and patients with resected LAPC after induction therapy were included. Outcomes were postoperative pancreas-specific complications, 90-day mortality, pathological outcomes, disease-free interval (DFI), and overall survival (OS).

Results: Overall, 879 patients were included; 103 with LAPC (12%) and 776 with (B)RPC (88%). LAPC patients had a lower WHO performance score and CACI. Postoperative pancreas-specific complications were comparable between groups, except delayed gastric emptying grade C, which occurred more often in LAPC patients (9% vs. 3%, P=0.03). Ninety-day mortality was comparable. About half of the patients in both groups (54% in LAPC vs. 48% in (B)RPC), P=0.21) had a radical resection (R0). DFI was 13 months in both groups (P=0.12) and OS from date of diagnosis was 24 months in LAPC patients and 19 months in (B)RPC patients (P=0.34).

Conclusions: In our nationwide prospective databases, pancreas-specific complications, mortality and survival in patients with LAPC following pancreatectomy are comparable with those undergoing resection for (B)RPC. These outcomes suggest that postoperative morbidity and mortality after tumor resection in carefully selected patients with LAPC are acceptable.