title: Is pancreatic fistula associated with worse overall survival in patients with pancreatic carcinoma?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pancreatic fistula (PF) is one of the leading complications after pancreatic resection for pancreatic carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine whether PF was associated with deterioration of long-term outcomes in patients with pancreatic carcinoma after surgical resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records of 210 patients with pancreatic carcinoma who underwent tumor resection were reviewed retrospectively. PF was defined as grade B or C PF according to the criteria of the International Study Group on Pancreatic Fistula. Clinicopathological factors including overall survival were compared between patients with and without PF by univariate and multivariate analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-one patients (15 %) developed postoperative PF, and 179 (85 %) did not. The 31 cases of PF consisted of 27 grade B PF and 4 grade C PF. There were no differences in the use of adjuvant chemotherapy, tumor differentiation, lymph node status, surgical margin status, or UICC stage between groups. Overall 5-year survival rates for patients with and without PF were 25 and 27 %, respectively. There was no significant difference in overall survival between the two groups (P = 0.743). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the use of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (P < 0.001), tumor differentiation (P = 0.005), and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001) were factors independently associated with overall survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggested that PF was not associated with deterioration of long-term outcomes in patients with pancreatic carcinoma. However, further analyses on larger number of patients are needed to determine a negative effect of grade C PF on long-term survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan, mura777@hiroshima-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sudo
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Naru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Hayato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Taijiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sueda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D010094:Oxonic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010185:Pancreatic Fistula / Q000209:etiology*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate; D005641:Tegafur / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000093542:Gemcitabine
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D003841:Deoxycytidine; C079198:S 1 (combination); D005641:Tegafur; D010094:Oxonic Acid; D000093542:Gemcitabine