Abstract:
Background Early stage pancreatic cancer can be treated by surgical resection, supplemented by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with a 5-year survival rate of about 20% after surgery. However, local-regional recurrence and distant metastasis are the main causes of treatment failure for pancreatic cancer. The current treatment options for recurrent metastatic pancreatic cancer are limited and poorly reported in the domestic and international literature.
Objective To explore the prognosis of patients with recurrent metastases after radical pancreatic cancer surgery receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy combined with targeted and/or immunotherapy and its influencing factors.
Methods From January 2011 to September 2021, clinical data were collected from pancreatic cancer patients who developed recurrent metastasis after radical pancreatic cancer surgery in Chinese PLA General Hospital and were subsequently treated with a combination of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted and/or immunotherapy, and the prognostic factors and treatment failure patterns were analyzed.
Results There were 41 cases wer selected, including 33 males and 8 females, with a median age of 56 years-old. The median follow-up was 75 months (31.5 to 118.5), with a median overall survival (mOS) of 26.3 months and OS of 90.2%, 63.4%, 36.6%, and 19.5% at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years; the median disease free survival (mDFS) after radical pancreatic cancer surgery was 9.8 months, and the DFS rates at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years were 75.6%, 19.5%, 2.4%, and 2.4%; the mOS for patients with recurrent metastases after radical surgery who received radiotherapy and chemotherapy combined with targeted and or immunotherapy was 17.1 months, and the OS at 1, 2, 3, and 5 years was 65.8%, 44.0%, 26.8% and 4.8%. Multifactorial Cox regression analysis showed that male (HR=3.85, P=0.024), poor differentiation (HR=2.42, P=0.039), and the number of chemotherapy cycles ≥10 after radical surgery (HR=0.16, P<0.001) were independently associated with overall survival after recurrence or metastasis. Male (HR=6.98, P=0.011) and the number of chemotherapy cycles after recurrent metastasis ≥10 (HR=0.08, P=0.009) were independently associated with the overall survival after radical resection. Liver metastasis (31.7%, 13/41) and local recurrence (46.3%, 19/41) were the main patterns of treatment failure after radical surgery.
Conclusion Radiotherapy and chemotherapy combined with targeted and or immunotherapy has good survival benefits and tolerance, which can be used as a treatment choice for patients with recurrent and metastatic pancreatic cancer after radical resection.