Prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in estimating survival in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer

Background: The predictive value of different prognostic biomarkers has been studied in various cancer types. Aims and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of risk and prognostic significance of pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 levels in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer (PC) and reveal its relevance with survival. Materials and Methods: Clinical and laboratory data of 118 patients with metastatic PC at the time of diagnosis were retrospectively analyzed. The overall survival (OS) was estimated according to the Kaplan–Meier method. To determine the prognostic factors affecting PC, the Cox regression analysis was performed. Results: The average age of the patients was 67 ± 9.57 years. The patients were analyzed during the follow-up period, and their average OS was 12 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.73–14.26). The cutoff value was 3.54 (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.653, 95% CI = 0.56–0.73, P = 0.006) for NLR and 437 (AUC = 0.670, 95% CI = 0.57–0.75, P = 0.002) for CA19-9. Statistically significant difference was found between CA19-9 (P < 000.1) and NLR (P < 000.1) and OS. Analysis of multivariate Cox regression showed that NLR (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.17–4.03, P = 0.013) and CA19-9 (HR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.08–3.03, P = 0.022) were important prognostic factors in OS analysis. Conclusion: Pretreatment NLR and CA19-9 levels were found to be reliable estimative markers for poor prognosis in patients with metastatic PC. Our findings revealed that NLR and CA19-9 levels can be used to estimate the survival of patients with PC. We believe that our findings will shed light on the management of treatment protocols for patients diagnosed with metastatic PC

Extraordinary Response of Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer to Chemotherapy / 대한소화기암학회지

A 58-year-old woman presented with right flank and back pain for one month. After undergoing an abdominal computed tomography (CT), she was referred to our hospital. The abdominal CT showed a hypodense pancreatic tail mass with multiple retroperitoneal lymph node metastases. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan showed high 18F-FDG uptake in pancreatic tumor and enlarged lymph nodes. Endoscopic ultrasound fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) revealed adenocarcinoma, which stained strongly in hENT1 (human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1) on immunohistochemistry. She received gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m² + nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel 125 mg/m² as a palliative chemotherapy. Follow-up abdominal CT and PET-CT after 4 cycles of chemotherapy showed that both pancreatic mass and the metastatic retroperitoneal lymph nodes were nearly disappeared. We report a case of 58-year-old female with metastatic pancreatic cancer who had a dramatic response to palliative chemotherapy (gemcitabine plus nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel).

Surgical resection of metastasis to the pancreas / 대한외과학회지

PURPOSE: Metastasis to the pancreas is rare, and the benefit of resection for pancreatic metastasis is poorly defined. The aim of this study was to review our experiences of the operative management of metastasis to the pancreas. METHODS: Between 1995 and 2009, 11 patients (8 men and 3 women; median age, 54 years) were admitted to our institution with a metachronously metastatic lesion to the pancreas and later underwent pancreatic resection. The clinical features and outcomes of treatments were examined. RESULTS: The primary cancers were renal cell carcinoma (RCC, n = 7), carcinoid tumor (n = 2), rectal cancer and leiomyosarcoma. Six patients underwent distal pancreatectosplenectomy, 3 pancreaticoduodenectomy and 2 patients underwent enucleation for small RCC. One patient died of metastatic RCC at 53 months after surgery and ten patients remain alive; four patients without disease at 7 to 69 months postoperatively, and the other six with disease at 11 to 68 months. Median postoperative survival of all patients was 34 months. CONCLUSION: Patients with a low surgical risk should be considered for pancreatic metastasectomy if curative resection is possible. Primary cancer type, which is associated with survival benefit, would be the best candidate for surgical resection of metastases to the pancreas.