Risk Factors for Recurrence of Pancreatic Cancer After Surgery

Despite advances in imaging, chemotherapy, and surgery, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) still conveys a poor prognosis in most cases, with true clinical cure being uncommon. In a recent study from Japan, investigators analyzed which clinicopathological factors were most likely to predict disease recurrence after surgery.

Among 359 patients who underwent surgery without neoadjuvant therapy, almost three quarters developed recurrent disease at a median time of just over 1 year. On multivariate analysis, risk factors for shorter recurrence-free survival included an elevated serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9; >37 U/mL), tumor size >2.6 cm, not undergoing adjuvant treatment, presence of malignant adenopathy, lack of an R0 resection…