The short- and long-term outcomes of pancreatic resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma in patients older than 75 years

Abstract

The short- and long-term outcomes of pancreatic resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma have not been fully evaluated in elderly patients. This retrospective study selected patients who underwent curative surgery for pancreatic cancer at our institution. Patients were categorized into 2 groups: nonelderly patients (age, 75 years; group A) and elderly patients (age 75 years; group B). The surgical morbidity, surgical mortality, overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates in the 2 groups were compared. A total of 221 patients were evaluated in the study. The overall complication rates were 44.8% in group A and 52.6% in group B. Surgical mortality was observed in 2 patients due to an abdominal abscess and cardiovascular disease in group A (1.1%) and in 1 patient due to postoperative bleeding in group B (2.6%). There were no significant differences (P ¼ 0.379 and P ¼ 0.456, respectively). Furthermore, the 5-year OS and RFS rates were similar between the elderly patients and nonelderly patients (18.55 versus 20.2%, P ¼ 0.946 and 13.1% versus 16.0%, P ¼ 0.829, respectively). The short-term outcomes and long-term survival after pancreatic resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma were almost equal in the elderly and the nonelderly patients in this study. Therefore, it is unnecessary to avoid pancreatic resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma in elderly patients simply because of their age.