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. 2014 Feb;5(1):7-13.
doi: 10.14740/wjon789w. Epub 2014 Mar 11.

Age Influences Likelihood of Pancreatic Cancer Treatment, but not Outcome

Andrew A Wheeler  1 , Michael B Nicholl  1   2   3
Affiliations

Age Influences Likelihood of Pancreatic Cancer Treatment, but not Outcome

Andrew A Wheeler et al. World J Oncol. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Pancreatic cancer (PanCA) is predominantly diagnosed in elderly patients; nevertheless, a significant number of young patients are affected. We hypothesized more aggressive treatment of young PanCA patients would result in better overall survival (OS).

Methods: A retrospective review of our institutional cancer database identified subjects for inclusion. Age 50 years was selected to stratify patients into age groups.

Results: Of 309 PanCA patients, 54 (17%) were ≤ 50 years old. Exocrine cancer was the most common histology (90%). Patients ≤ 50 years old were more likely to have endocrine cancer (22% vs. 7%, P = 0.001). There was no difference in stage or curative intent surgery between age groups. Despite patients ≤ 50 years old receiving more chemotherapy (61% vs. 41%, P = 0.007) and radiotherapy (28% vs. 15%, P = 0.03), there was no difference in OS (24.1 months vs. 14.1 months, P = 0.08). When only exocrine cancers were considered, there was no difference between young and old patients regarding stage, grade, location or surgery. Exocrine cancer patients ≤ 50 years old received more chemotherapy (67% vs. 42%, P = 0.003) and radiation therapy (36% vs. 17%, P = 0.004), but there was no difference in OS.

Conclusions: A substantial number of PanCA patients are ≤ 50 years old. Patients ≤ 50 years old received more treatment but did not have improved OS. Significant improvements in PanCA survival await development of new treatment strategies.

Keywords: Cancer of pancreas; Chemotherapy; Radiotherapy; Surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of survival in patients younger than and older than 50 years old who were diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic tumors (solid line: patients ≤ 50 years old; dashed line: patients > 50 years old).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of survival in patients younger than and older than 50 years old who were diagnosed with endocrine pancreatic tumors (solid line: patients ≤ 50 years old; dashed line: patients > 50 years old).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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