Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas: a multimodality approach--a single surgeon's experience (1979-1988)

A retrospective review of a single surgeon's experience with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas was performed. One hundred-one patients were treated over a 10-year period from 1979 to 1988. Seven patients underwent potentially curative resections and 28 patients presented with metastatic (stage IV) disease. Sixty-four patients had locally advanced and unresectable primary lesions. A total of 51 patients received I-125 seed implantation. There was no statistically significant difference in morbidity (33% vs. 30%) or mortality (6% vs. 8%) between patients receiving I-125 implantation and those undergoing palliative surgical procedures without implantation. Operative mortality was highest in patients presenting with stage IV lesions (11%). In those patients with locally advanced and unresectable carcinomas, there was a nonsignificant increase in survival (12.8 mo vs. 10.7 mo) in those receiving intraoperative I-125 implants when compared to those who did not when both groups received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and external beam radiotherapy. Based on these encouraging results, it is concluded that I-125 implantation can be performed safely and shows a trend toward improving long-term survivorship in patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma when used in conjunction with chemotherapy and external beam radiation.