Multimodal treatment combining neoadjuvant therapy, laparoscopic subtotal distal pancreatectomy and adjuvant therapy for pancreatic neck-body cancer: Case series.

BACKGROUND

Pancreatic cancer involving the pancreas neck and body often invades the retroperitoneal vessels, making its radical resection challenging. Multimodal treatment strategies, including neoadjuvant therapy, surgery, and postoperative adjuvant therapy, are contributing to a paradigm shift in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. This strategy is also promising in the treatment of pancreatic neck-body cancer.

AIM

To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a multimodal strategy for the treatment of borderline/locally advanced pancreatic neck-body cancer.

METHODS

From January 2019 to December 2021, we reviewed the demographic characteristics, neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment data, intraoperative and postoperative variables, and follow-up outcomes of patients who underwent multimodal treatment for pancreatic neck-body cancer in a prospectively collected database of our hospital. This investigation was reported in line with the Preferred Reporting of Case Series in Surgery criteria.

RESULTS

A total of 11 patients with pancreatic neck-body cancer were included in this study, of whom 6 patients were borderline resectable and 5 were locally advanced. Through multidisciplinary team discussion, all patients received neoadjuvant therapy, of whom 8 (73%) patients achieved a partial response and 3 patients maintained stable disease. After multidisciplinary team reassessment, all patients underwent laparoscopic subtotal distal pancreatectomy and portal vein reconstruction and achieved R0 resection. Postoperatively, two patients (18%) developed ascites, and two patients (18%) developed pancreatic fistulae. The median length of stay of the patients was 11 days (range: 10-15 days). All patients received postoperative adjuvant therapy. During the follow-up, three patients experienced tumor recurrence, with a median disease-free survival time of 13.3 months and a median overall survival time of 20.5 months.

CONCLUSION

A multimodal treatment strategy combining neoadjuvant therapy, laparoscopic subtotal distal pancreatectomy, and adjuvant therapy is safe and feasible in patients with pancreatic neck-body cancer.