Preoperative fecal elastase-1 is a useful prognostic marker following curative resection of pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND

The clinical relevance of fibrosis with regard to tumor progression is supported by the correlation between fibrosis and poor outcomes. Fecal elastase-1 (FE-1) level has been used to assess exocrine dysfunction of the pancreas and to predict pancreas fibrosis. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of FE-1 on the survival of pancreatic cancer patients.

METHODS

Between January 2006 and December 2014, 136 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma underwent R0 resection at Gangnam Severance Hospital, Korea. Preoperative FE-1 levels were available in 94 patients who were enrolled in the study. Patients were classified into two groups according to preoperative FE-1: "normal" (≥200 μg/g) or "reduced" (<200 μg/g).

RESULTS

Median preoperative FE-1 level was 130.1 μg/g (IQR 32.0; 238.3). 62 patients (66.0%) had reduced pancreatic function and 32 patients (34.0%) had normal pancreatic function. The two groups had significantly different disease-free survival (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, normal FE-1, no lymph node metastasis and completion of adjuvant chemotherapy were found to be independent prognostic factors for better DFS (P = 0.001, P = 0.017, P = 0.038, respectively).

CONCLUSION

FE-1 is a simple and non-invasive predictive clinical marker for prognosis of pancreatic cancer after attempted curative resection.