Abstract
Marital status has been identified as a prognostic factor in multiple malignancies. In this study, we assessed the prognostic value of marital status in 24,035 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database diagnosed with biliary tract cancer (BTC) between 2004 and 2014. Widowed patients were more likely to be women, elderly (> 60 years), have gallbladder cancer, and have localized SEER Stage disease than all other patients. Marital status was identified as an independent prognostic factor in both univariate and multivariate analyses, and cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were higher in married patients than unmarried patients. In addition, CSS rates were higher in ampulla of Vater cancer patients than in gallbladder cancer or cholangiocarcinoma patients. Further analysis revealed that CSS rates were lowest in widowed patients at each TNM stage and for all tumor sites. These results suggest marital status is a prognostic factor for clinical outcomes in patients with BTC, and widowed patients are at greater risk of cancer-specific mortality.
Highlights
Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is a category of tumors that includes gallbladder cancer (GBC), cholangiocarcinoma, and ampullary cancer [1, 2]
We assessed the prognostic value of marital status in 24,035 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database diagnosed with biliary tract cancer (BTC) between 2004 and 2014
We investigated the association between marital status and cause-specific survival (CSS) in BTC patients by examining data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry program for individuals diagnosed between 2004 and 2014
Summary
Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is a category of tumors that includes gallbladder cancer (GBC), cholangiocarcinoma, and ampullary cancer [1, 2]. BTC is rare, its incidence is increasing worldwide [3, 4]. In Japan, BTC is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death, and more than 18,000 patients die from the disease annually [5]. Radical resection remains the only curative treatment for BTC, and recurrence rates after resection are high [6, 7]. Because BTC is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, most patients are not considered candidates for curative resection. Despite recent improvements in surgical techniques and adjuvant therapy, the overall prognosis of BTC remains poor [8, 9]. It is vital to identify factors that predict prognosis in BTC patients to help clinicians implement better therapeutic strategies
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