Impact of Patient Age on the Postoperative Survival in Pancreatic Head Cancer.

Abstract

Some reports have stated that pancreatoduodenectomy for elderly patients have comparable morbidity and mortality to that of young patients. However, the long-term outcomes of these patients have not been fully evaluated, especially for pancreatic head cancer. A total of 227 patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy for pancreatic head cancer between 2007 and 2014 were included. They were stratified according to age: young (<70years), elderly (70 to <80years), and very elderly (≥80years). The short- and long-term outcomes were evaluated. There were no significant differences in terms of morbidity among the three groups. The median disease-free survival times were 15months in the young, 11months in the elderly, and 7months in the very elderly. The disease-free survival of the young patients was significantly better than that in both the elderly and the very elderly (p=0.012 and p = 0.016). The median overall survival times were 30months in the young, 20months in the elderly, and 14months in the very elderly. The overall survival of the young patients was significantly better than that in both the elderly and the very elderly (p=0.007 and p<0.001). The difference was marginal between the elderly and the very elderly (p=0.053). Multivariate analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis (p<0.001), age ≥80years (p=0.013), lack of adjuvant chemotherapy (p=0.003), blood transfusion (p=0.015), and CA 19-9 ≥300 U/ml (p=0.040) were significant prognostic factors. Patient age influenced the survival after pancreatoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer.