Ampullary cancer and preoperative jaundice: possible indication of the minimal surgery.
OBJECTIVE
Obstructive jaundice is common symptom of carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater. In the present study we evaluated association between preoperative jaundice and prognosis and possible indication of the minimal surgery.


METHODS
Clinicopathological features of 50 patients who underwent curative resection were examined retrospectively and statistically analyzed.


RESULTS
Thirty-two of the 50 patients (64%) had preoperative jaundice, and these patients had poorer survival compared with these without jaundice (5 year survival 57.2% vs. 100%, p < 0.01). Preoperative jaundice, serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level, pancreatic invasion, lymphatic invasion, venous invasion, perineural invasion, duodenal invasion, margin status, lymph node metastasis, and T stage were shown to be significant prognostic factors. In the 18 patients without preoperative jaundice, lymphatic invasion was significantly related to lymph node metastasis. In addition, 12 of the 14 patients without jaundice and lymphatic invasion were diagnosed as T1N0 (stage IA) disease, and all the tumors were papillary or well-differentiated adenocarcinoma.


CONCLUSIONS
Preoperative jaundice may reflect advanced-stage in case of ampullary cancer. Radical surgery may not be necessary in patients without preoperative jaundice if the tumor is diagnosed as a papillary or well-differentiated adenocarcinoma without lymphatic invasion.
Uchida
Hiroki
H
Department of Surgery I, Oita University, Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Hasama-machi, Yufu, Oita 879-5593, Japan. ucchy@med.oita-u.ac.jp
Shibata
Kohei
K
Iwaki
Kentaro
K
Kai
Seiichiro
S
Ohta
Masayuki
M
Kitano
Seigo
S
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014670:Ampulla of Vater / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003138:Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D041781:Jaundice, Obstructive / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D016577:Pancreaticoduodenectomy; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome