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. 2022 Jun;126(12):1774-1782.
doi: 10.1038/s41416-022-01752-3. Epub 2022 Mar 2.

Pancreatic cancer survival by stage and age in seven high-income countries (ICBP SURVMARK-2): a population-based study

Citadel J Cabasag  1 , Melina Arnold  2 , Mark Rutherford  3 , Aude Bardot  2 , Jacques Ferlay  2 , Eileen Morgan  2 , Alana Little  4 , Prithwish De  5 , Elijah Dixon  6 , Ryan R Woods  7 , Nathalie Saint-Jacques  8 , Sue Evans  9 , Gerda Engholm  10 , Mark Elwood  11 , Neil Merrett  12 , David Ransom  13 , Dianne L O'Connell  14 , Freddie Bray  2 , Isabelle Soerjomataram  2
Affiliations

Pancreatic cancer survival by stage and age in seven high-income countries (ICBP SURVMARK-2): a population-based study

Citadel J Cabasag et al. Br J Cancer. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The global burden of pancreatic cancer has steadily increased, while the prognosis after pancreatic cancer diagnosis remains poor. This study aims to compare the stage- and age-specific pancreatic cancer net survival (NS) for seven high-income countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and United Kingdom.

Methods: The study included over 35,000 pancreatic cancer cases diagnosed during 2012-2014, followed through 31 December 2015. The stage- and age-specific NS were calculated using the Pohar-Perme estimator.

Results: Pancreatic cancer survival estimates were low across all 7 countries, with 1-year NS ranging from 21.1% in New Zealand to 30.9% in Australia, and 3-year NS from 6.6% in the UK to 10.9% in Australia. Most pancreatic cancers were diagnosed with distant stage, ranging from 53.9% in Ireland to 83.3% in New Zealand. While survival differences were evident between countries across all stage categories at one year after diagnosis, this survival advantage diminished, particularly in cases with distant stage.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the importance of stage and age at diagnosis in pancreatic cancer survival. Although progress has been made in improving pancreatic cancer prognosis, the disease is highly fatal and will remain so without major breakthroughs in the early diagnosis and management.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Age-standardised 1- and 3-year net survival (all ages combined) with 95% confidence interval among cases diagnosed with pancreatic cancer by country, 2012–2014.
AUS Australia, CAN Canada, DNK Denmark, IRE Ireland, NZ New Zealand, NOR Norway, UK United Kingdom. 1Includes the following cancer registries: AUS–New South Wales; CAN–Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan; UK–England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. 2Ireland, cases diagnosed in 2012–2013.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Age-standardised 1- and 3-year net survival (all ages combined) with 95% confidence interval among cases diagnosed with pancreatic cancer by SEER stage and country, 2012–2014.
SEER refers to both SEER stage and TNM-derived SEER stage. 1Only includes the following cancer registries: AUS–New South Wales; CAN–Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan; UK–England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. 2Ireland cases diagnosed in 2012–2013.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Age-specific 1-year and 3-year net survival among pancreatic cancer cases by stage and country, 2012–2014.
a 1-year net survival with 95% confidence interval. b 3-year net survival with 95% confidence interval. 1Only includes the following cancer registries: AUS–New South Wales; CAN–Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan; UK–England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. 2Ireland cases diagnosed in 2012–2013.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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