Abstract
BackgroundThe effect of treatment delay on survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unclear. AimsThis study aimed to assess the prognostic impact of time to diagnosis and chemotherapy in advanced PDAC and factors influencing the time intervals. Methodsadvanced PDAC patients receiving chemotherapy in five centers in the decade 2007–2016 were included. Key time points during care pathway from clinical presentation to beginning of chemotherapy were retrospectively collected. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was performed. ResultsA total of 409 patients were included (mean age 66.1 ± 10.3 years; 250 metastatic (61%); 139 received FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy (34%). The median overall survival (OS) was 7.2 months. The median times from first symptoms and from first specialist visit to the beginning of chemotherapy were respectively 100 days and 47 days. None of time intervals was significantly associated with OS. Significant prognostic factors were FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy (HR 0.6 [0.5–0.8]; P < 0.001), metastasis (HR 1.6 [1.3–2.0]; P = 0.001), WHO PS ≥ 2 (HR 1.6 [1.2–2.1]; P < 0.001) and acute pancreatitis as first symptom (HR 2.9 [1.7–4.9]; P < 0.001). Jaundice shortened time to diagnosis (P < 0.001). Acute pancreatitis (P < 0.001) and diabetes (P = 0.01) increased time to treatment. ConclusionWait times from clinical presentation to beginning of chemotherapy do not influence survival in advanced PDAC.
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