Duodenal Adenocarcinoma: Surgical Results of 27 Patients Treated at a Single Center

Abstract Introduction Duodenal adenocarcinoma is a rare malignancy. Given the rarity of the disease, there is limited data related to resection results. The objective is to analyze results at our hospital after the curative resection of duodenal adenocarcinoma (DA). Material and methods The variables were retrospectively collected from patients operated on between 1990 and 2017 at our hospital. Results A total of 27 patients were treated. Twenty-three patients (85%) underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy, and 4 patients (15%) with tumors located in the third and fourth portions of the duodenum underwent segmental duodenal resection. The overall postoperative morbidity was 63% (17 patients). Postoperative mortality was 7% (2 patients); however, postoperative mortality related to surgery was 4% (1 patient). All patients had negative resection margins. A median of 18 lymph nodes (range, 0–38) were retrieved and evaluated, with a median of 1 involved node (range, 0–8). Median follow up was 23 (9–69.7) months. Actuarial overall survival was 62.2 (25.2–99.1) months. Actuarial disease-free survival was 49 (0–133) months. Conclusions The surgical treatment of duodenal adenocarcinoma is associated with a high morbidity, although it achieves considerable survival. Depending on the tumor location and if there is no pancreatic infiltration, segmental duodenal resection with negative margins is an alternative to cephalic pancreaticoduodenectomy.