[Incidence, treatment and prognosis of cancer of the pancreas in Haute-Garonne (1982-1986)].

: The characteristics of incident cases of pancreatic carcinoma found in the area of Haute-Garonne (France), as determined by the Digestive Cancer Registry, are reported. Two hundred and forty-six new cases were collected during a 5 year period in a population of 820,000 inhabitants. The annual standardized incidence rate per 100,000 inhabitants was 4.7 for men and 2.6 for women, respectively. This represents a low risk and corresponds to 7 percent of all intestinal tract tumors. The tumors were shown histologically to be adenocarcinoma in 85 percent of cases. The tumor was localized in the head of the gland in 64 percent of cases, while metastases were present at the time of diagnosis in 43 percent of cases. Ultrasonography was the initial investigation (44 percent of cases) and was performed well before endoscopic retrograde wirsungography (12.8 percent) and computed tomography (18 percent). Eighty-six percent of the patients were operated on. Curative surgery, however, was possible in only 12.5 percent of patients. The incidence of carcinoma remained stable during the observation period and no change was noticed with regard to housing conditions. During follow-up, 50 of 215 patients died within one month following the diagnosis (23 percent). Actuarial survival was 36 percent at 6 months, 17.4 percent at one year, and 3.6 percent at 3 years. These data were comparable to those observed in the Cote-d'Or and Calvados areas. These findings suggest that the French Digestive Tumor Registries should develop co-operative studies particularly in the analytic epidemiological fields.