Clinical results on intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy for prevention of liver metastasis following curative resection of pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND

We report here the clinical results of intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy for the prevention of liver metastasis following curative resection of pancreatic carcinoma.

METHODS

Twenty-two patients with pancreatic cancer underwent the radical operation between January 1999 and April 2005. Intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP) and 5-fluorouracil (5FU) was selectively performed on nine patients; the remaining 13 patients did not receive chemotherapy and comprised the control group.

RESULTS

Demographics and clinical characteristics were almost identical in the two groups. Liver metastasis occurred in three of nine patients (33%) in the chemotherapy group and in seven of 13 patients (54%) in the control group. The intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy had the tendency to suppress the rate of liver metastasis. The median survival period was 15.8 months for the nine patients who underwent the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery and 13.4 months for the 13 patients of the control group who were curatively resected without the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy. Cumulative survival rate was improved by the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent the curative operation, the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy had the tendency to suppress the rate of liver metastasis and improve cumulative survival.