[Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma patients after radical resection].
OBJECTIVE
To retrospectively investigate the difference in survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients treated by radical surgery with or without adjuvant radiation therapy.


METHODS
Forty-four patients with pancreatic cancer underwent surgical resection with a curative intent, and were divided into two groups: surgery alone (n = 24) or surgery combined with postoperative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (n = 20). Survival as an endpoint was analyzed between the two groups.


RESULTS
All 44 patients completed their scheduled treatment. The median survival time of the patients treated with radical resection alone was 379 days versus 665 days for those treated with combined therapy. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates of the patients treated with radical resection alone were 46.3%, 8.3%, 4.2% versus 65.2%, 20.2%, 14.1% for the patients treated with combined therapy, respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.017). The failures in local-regional relapse were significantly lower in the postoperative EBRT group than that in the surgery alone group (P < 0.05), while the additional postoperative radiation therapy did not increase the complication rate (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Postoperative external beam radiation therapy can improve the survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Lin
Gen-lai
GL
Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200052, China. njlgl1006@hotmail.com
Zeng
Zhao-chong
ZC
Wu
Zheng
Z
Jin
Da-yong
DY
Lu
Wei-qi
WQ
Chen
Gang
G
Wang
Jian
J
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D011184:Postoperative Period; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate