Does pre‐operative chemoradiation for initially unresectable or borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma increase post‐operative morbidity? A case‐matched analysis. Issue 8 (10th January 2013) - Araujo, Raphael L. C.
Abstract Background Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy for locally unresectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer may allow some patients to a undergo a resection, but whether or not this increases post‐operative morbidity remains unclear. Methods The post‐operative morbidity of 29 patients with initially locally unresectable/borderline pancreatic cancer who underwent a resection were compared with 29 patients with initially resectable tumours matched for age, gender, the presence of comorbidities (yes/no), American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score, tumour location (head/body‐tail), procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy/distal pancreatectomy) and vascular resection (yes /no). Wilcoxon's signed ranks test was used for continuous variables and McNemar's chi‐square test for categorical variables. Results Compared with patients with initially resectable tumours, patients who underwent a resection after pre‐operative chemoradiation therapy had similar rates of overall post‐operative complications (55% versus 41%, P = 0.42), major complications (21% versus 21%, P = 1), pancreatic leaks and fistulae (7% versus 10%, P = 1) and mortality (0% versus 1.7%, P = 1). Conclusion Although some previous studies have suggested differences in post‐operative morbidity after chemoradiation, our case‐matched analysis did not find statistical differences in surgical morbidity and mortality associated with pre‐operative chemoradiation therapy.