Small pancreatic cancer diagnosis and prognosis

Abstract

To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, diagnostic methods and prognosis of small pancreatic cancer. From May 2000 to January 2007, 89 patients with pancreatic cancer underwent surgery in our hospital. Of those, 14 had a tumor < or = 2 cm in diameter (small tumor group), and the other 75 had a tumor >2 cm in diameter (controlled group). The clinicopathological data of all the cases were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. In the small pancreatic cancer group, CT and MRI detected 66.7% (8/12) and 77.8% (7/9) of the tumors, respectively. Serosal infiltration was found in 2 cases, lymph node involvement in 3 cases, and retroperitoneal infiltration in 3 cases. The follow-up duration of this group was 4-86 months. The overall 3- and 5-year survival rates were 42.8% and 31.7%, while in the control group, the overall 3- and 5-year survival rates were 29.7% and 22.5%, respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that the lymph node involvement, serosal infiltration and retroperitoneal infiltration were independent risk factors (P<0.05). However, the tumor size was not shown to be an independent risk factor (OR value = 1.45, P = 0.971). CT and MRI are valuable in detecting small pancreatic cancer. Small pancreatic cancers are likely to have a better prognosis when compared with larger ones. Lymph node metastasis and local infiltration are independent predictors of prognosis but not tumor size.