ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were (a) to describe the characteristics of all incident cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma diagnosed in the population of the Finistère area between 2002 and 2011, (b) to report on their therapeutic management, and (c) to analyze survival and prognostic factors. METHODS: All residents of the administrative region of Finistère who were diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma between January 2002 and December 2011 were registered in the digestive cancer registry. Survival data were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and were compared using log-rank tests. Multivariate analysis was performed using a binary logistic regression model to identify prognostic factors. RESULTS: A total of 1002 patients with a pancreatic adenocarcinoma were registered, of whom 60% had metastases at diagnosis. Only 10% of patients underwent a potentially curative negative margin resection (R0); their median survival was 22.0 months. The median survival of the overall population was 4.1 months. The stages of the disease and the patient's age were independent prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the dramatic prognosis of this cancer. Because the tumor stage is the main prognostic factor in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, efforts should focus on the earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
