Radical resection and outcome for malignant tumors of the pancreatic body and tail.

AIM

To analyze the factors influencing radical (R0) resection rate and surgical outcome for malignant tumor of the pancreatic body and tail.

METHODS

The clinical and operative data and follow-up results of 214 pancreatic body and tail cancer patients were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTS

One hundred and twenty/214 pancreatic body and tail cancer patients underwent surgical treatment; the overall resection rate was 59.2% (71/120), and the R0 resection rate was 40.8% (49/120). Compared with non-R0 treatment, the patients receiving an R0 resection had smaller size tumor (P<0.01), cystadenocarcinoma (P<0.01), less lymph node metastasis (P<0.01), less peri-pancreatic organ involvement (P<0.01) and earlier stage disease (P<0.01). The overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates for pancreatic body and tail cancer patients were 12.7% (25/197), 7.6% (15/197) and 2.5% (5/197), respectively, and ductal adenocarcinoma patients had worse survival rates [15.0% (9/60), 6.7% (4/60) and 1.7% (1/60), respectively] than cystadenocarcinoma patients [53.8% (21/39), 28.2% (11/39) and 10.3% (4/39)] (P<0.01). Moreover, the 1-, 3- and 5-year overall survival rates in patients with R0 resection were 55.3% (26/47), 31.9% (15/47) and 10.6% (5/47), respectively, significantly better than those in patients with palliative resection [9.5% (2/21), 0 and 0] and in patients with bypass or laparotomy [1.2% (1/81), 0 and 0] (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

Early diagnosis is crucial for increasing the radical resection rate, and radical resection plays an important role in improving survival for pancreatic body and tail cancer patients.