title: External validation of 2 prognostic indices for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer treated with first-line therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to perform an external validation of 2 Asian prognostic indices for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A score was calculated in patients treated with frontline therapy derived from the factors Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, localization of primary tumor, and C-reactive protein level according to Sawaki and from the factors Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, pretreatment carcinoembryonic antigen, and presence/absence of distant metastasis following Ishii. For analysis, the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test were used. An analysis of the Brier score was performed to determine how the prediction error was reduced by the introduction of prognostic factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the Sawaki and Ishii score, 112 and 105 complete cases were available, respectively. Based on the 3 prognostic categories according to the Sawaki score, median overall survival was 12.3, 9.9, and 5.9 months, respectively (not statistically significant). By adapting the Ishii score to our population, 93% of the patients were allocated to the subgroup with "good" and only 7% to the subgroup with "intermediate" prognosis. Corresponding median OS was 10.5 and 3.8 months, respectively (P = 0.0035).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both Asian indices may not be suitable for defining different prognostic subgroups for a white population with advanced pancreatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine III, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haas
authors.forename: Ruediger P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Laubender
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Klose
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mansmann
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boeck
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Heinemann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D011467:Prostate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000601:surgery; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein