Survival Outcomes Among Pancreatic Cancer Patients at Kenyatta National Hospital.

PURPOSE

Mortality from pancreatic cancer has risen fast in the past two decades in East Africa, including Kenya. However, there was a paucity of conclusive data about the survival of pancreatic cancer patients in the study setting. Hence, this study aimed to assess the survival outcomes of pancreatic cancer patients at Kenyatta National Hospital.

METHODS

A hospital-based retrospective cohort analysis was used to evaluate the survival outcomes among pancreatic cancer patients treated in the study setting from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019. A total of 64 eligible pancreatic cancer patients were included in the study. In the pre-designed data abstraction tool, the data were collected by reviewing the medical records of the patients. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22 software. The mean survival time was estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Cox regression analysis was employed to estimate the predictors of mortality among pancreatic cancer patients.

RESULTS

The mean age of the study participants was 60.38 ± 12.61 years. Most of the patients had adenocarcinoma (96.9%) and were diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease. The overall mean and median survival estimate for pancreatic cancer was 48.7 ± 9.7 and 39.0 ± 23.9 months, respectively. The present study showed that the overall survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients was 79.7%.

CONCLUSION

The mortality rate of pancreatic cancer in the present study was 20%. The overall mean survival estimate for pancreatic cancer was 48.7 ± 9.7 months, and the majority had disease progression in the last follow-up period.