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Updated: Jul 6, 2026
Robot Assisted Distal Pancreatectomy with Celiac Axis Resection (DP-CAR) for Pancreatic Cancer: Surgical Planning and Technique
Published on: August 14, 2021
Palliative pancreatectomy with postoperative gemcitabine for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer
Yasuhiro Fujino1, Tetsuya Sakai, Yoshikazu Kuroda
1Department of Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan.
Background:
The prognosis of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer remains very poor. This study was designed to evaluate palliative pancreatic resection with postoperative gemcitabine chemotherapy.
Methods:
A total of 127 patients underwent palliative pancreatectomy or palliative nonresectable treatment with gemcitabine at Kobe University Hospital and were analyzed.
Results:
The median survival of patients receiving palliative pancreatectomy with gemcitabine was 15 months, and the 1- and 3-year survival rates were 60% and 13%, respectively, while that of patients receiving gemcitabine alone was only 8 months, and their 1- and 3-year survival rates were 26% and 0%. Multivariate analysis showed that gemcitabine was the strongest factor in survival, and no distant metastasis and pancreatectomy were also significant factors. In addition, the median survival of patients undergoing microscopically incomplete resection with gemcitabine was 22 months, and the 1- and 3-year survival rates were 60% and 40%. Pancreatectomy with gemcitabine improved the performance status 3 months after surgery, with longer survival compared with the gemcitabine alone group.
Conclusions:
Microscopically incomplete pancreatectomy with postoperative gemcitabine chemotherapy has a possible role in advanced pancreatic cancer.
