Pancreatic adenocarcinoma: A 10-year-experience in Siriraj Hospital.

ABSTRACT

Carcinoma of the pancreas is not a common disease in Thailand, and is not included in the list of the 10 leading cancers in the country. One hundred and sixty-eight patients with this cancer were treated at the Siriraj Hospital during January 1987 till December 1996. Ninety-five patients (56.6%) were male and the male to female ratio was 1.3 1. The mean age was 61.9 years (range 27-86 years). Back pain and/or abdominal pain was the most common presenting symptom (59.5%), followed by anorexia and weight loss (56.6%). Jaundice was found in 88 patients (52.4%), and the mean serum billirubin among these icteric patients was 18.2 mg/dl. Eighty-two per cent of the patients had tumour at the head of pancreas, and nearly 60% of the patients already had metastatic disease at the time of operation. Histological confirmation was obtained in only 49 patients (29.2%). Majority of the patients underwent some forms of palliative surgery, and the resectability rate was approximately 14%. Because of the low resectability rate and high incidence of metastasis, pancreatic cancer is still a disease with poor prognosis.