Clinical features of young patients (below age 40) with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Abstract

199 Background: The median age of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) patients is approximately 70 years. We investigated clinical features of PDAC occurring in young patients (< 40 years) in order to determine if any difference exists in comparison to older patients. Methods: We reviewed a single-institution database of 785 patients with pathologically proven PDAC between 2001 and 2012. We examined the clinical features in patients with PDAC below 40 years of age and compared it to those in older patients (≥ 40 years). Results: Of these 785 patients, a total of 10 patients (1.3%) under the age of 40 were identified, with a range of 28 to 37 years. Clinical features in young and older patients have been summarized (table). There are no differences between groups in terms of sex, smoking, tumor location, UICC stage, a family history of PDAC and a family history of any cancer. In the young patients group, three of them were diagnosed with localized diseases, two others with locally advanced diseases, and five others with metastatic diseases. Two of the three patients with localized diseases underwent curative operation. The five patients with metastatic diseases received chemotherapy, and only one patient achieved a partial response treated with FOLFIRINOX regimen. Two of the patients were long-term survivors, having survived over three years. Six of the patients had a family history of other cancers in first-degree relatives. Unexpectedly and most importantly, only one patient had a family history of PDAC. Conclusions: Cases of patients with PDAC below 40 years of age are rare. The clinical features in young patients were generally similar to those in older patients. Almost all young patients had no family history of PDAC, which suggests that hereditary genetic factors have a weak relationship with cases of onset of PDAC at a young age in Japan. [Table: see text]