Prognostic value of serum carbohydrate 19-9 in patients receiving gemcitabine-based neoadjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer.

e15189 Background: The role of neoadjuvant therapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unclear, but has demonstrated benefit in many studies. CA 19-9 is a commonly used tumor marker in the clinical management of PDAC, but its prognostic role in neoadjuvant therapy is not well defined. The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between CA 19-9 changes after neoadjuvant therapy and subsequent outcomes in patients with non-metastatic PDAC. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all patients with resectable, borderline resectable, and locally advanced PDAC who received neoadjuvant therapy at our institution between 1996 and 2012. For inclusion, patients needed a serum CA 19-9 >40 U/ml and bilirubin ≤2 mg/dl at the initiation of therapy. We evaluated associations between Ca 19-9 pre- and post- neoadjuvant therapy (NT) and outcome variables including completion of surgery, overall survival, and progression-free survival. Results: Of the 145 patients included, 30 had resecta...