Analyzing outcomes of neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment for borderline-resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma in the perioperative period at an academic institution

Background: Only 15-20% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients are upfront surgical candidates at presentation, and for this cohort of patients, the 5-year survival is a mere 20% despite adjuvant therapy. Previous data indicate that in clinical practice most of these cases are "borderline-resectable," and there is currently no mature data on perioperative treatment. Methods: We performed a retrospective electronic chart review of patients with "borderline-resectable"PDAC treated at an academic comprehensive cancer center, dividing them into groups based on surgery alone, surgery plus neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or neoadjuvant plus adjuvant perioperative treatment groups. The objectives were to determine the median overall survival (mOS), progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Statistical analysis was performed to assess the association of demographic, tumor traits, and interventions with OS, PFS and DFS. Results: Only surgery followed by adjuvant therapy showed an increase in mOS [hazard ratio (HR) 0.22; 95% CI, 0.09-0.51; P 0.05). Conclusions: Our study corroborated that patients treated with adjuvant therapy after surgical resection had an mOS benefit as reported on prior phase III clinical trials. Patients with "borderline-resectable" pancreatic cancer are encouraged to participate in a clinical trial or clinically be treated with adjuvant therapy until more mature results from the ongoing perioperative prospective study are available.