Cholangitis and Interruptions of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Associate with Reduced Overall and Progression-Free Survival in Pancreatic Cancer

Abstract

Abstract Background Interrupting chemotherapy may explain the reduced overall survival (OS) in patients with pancreatic cancer (PC) with cholangitis. Endoscopic biliary decompression (BD) with metallic stents results in fewer chemotherapy interruptions and a lower cholangitis rate compared with plastic stents. We aimed to determine the impact of cholangitis, neoadjuvant treatment (NAT) interruptions and biliary stent choice on PC patients’ survival. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of 162 patients with cancer of the head of the pancreas undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy after NAT and BD documenting progression-free survival (PFS) and OS. Data on BD, cholangitis, stent type, surgical radicality, and chemotherapy were collected. Survival was estimated based on the Kaplan–Meier method by using the log-rank test and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results Median OS and PFS for patients with cholangitis (n = 33, 20%) were 26 and 8 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 20–32 and 5–10 months), respectively, compared with 36 and 17 months (95% CI 31–41 and 12–21 months; p < 0.001 for OS; p = 0.002 for PFS) for patients without cholangitis. Among patients without NAT interruptions median OS and PFS were 35 and 17 months (95% CI 31–40 and 12–21 months), falling to 26 and 7 months (95% CI 18–30 and 5–10 months) among those who experienced an NAT interruption caused by biliary stent failure (n = 26, 16%) (p = 0.039 for OS; p < 0.001 for PFS). We found no difference in OS or PFS between stent types. Conclusions Cholangitis and NAT interruptions reduce OS and PFS among PC patients.