Abstract
It is predicted that in 2020, approximately 57,600 individuals will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (PaC). Based on SEER database analysis, there are conflicting opinions in literature about the overall treatment and outcomes in African-American patients with PaC. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a racial disparity in overall survival rates between African Americans (AAs) and non-African Americans (non-AAs) diagnosed with PaC who received neoadjuvant radiation therapy (RT) in a tertiary-care cancer center with an established multi-disciplinary PaC tumor board and clinic. An IRB-approved retrospective chart analysis was completed on 100 patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and treated with neoadjuvant RT between 2017-2019. Patients who were deemed resectable, borderline resectable (BR), or locally advanced/unresectable (LA) at initial diagnosis were included in the analysis. The following baseline characteristics were collected for each patient: staging, gender, age and ECOG score at initial diagnosis, tumor site and size, clinical T and N stage, CA19-9, and treatment variables (i.e., surgery, chemotherapy, and RT type). Overall survival was calculated from the RT start date. In order to identify any baseline differences among the AA group and the non-AA group, a two-sample t-test and Chi-square were employed. A log-rank test and Kaplan-Meier were used to determine any differences in overall survival among the two groups. Of the 100 patients included in the analysis, 25 were AA and 58 were female. There were 17 (68%) BR and 8 (32%) LA patients in the AA group. In the non-AA group, there were 2 (3%) resectable, 47 (63%) BR, and 26 (35%) LA patients. There were no statistically significant differences detected in any of the baseline characteristics except a trend for increased CA19-9 values of 399.8 U/mL for AAs and 229 U/mL for non-AAs. There was no statistically significant difference in receipt of chemotherapy and RT between the two groups. The estimated median survival rates were 11.5 months for non-AAs and 8.4 months for AAs. One-year overall survival was 45% for AAs versus 48% for non-AAs (p = 0.57). There was no difference in overall survival among AAs and non-AAs who received neoadjuvant RT+/- chemotherapy for PaC at our institution between 2017-2019. Contrary to previous publications based on large SEER database analysis, there does not appear to be any difference in overall survival based on race if patients receive treatment in a comprehensive multi-disciplinary collaborative center.
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More From: International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics
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