Survival rate of pancreatic cancer in elderly patients

As the population ages, many elderly people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This study is to investigate the current survival rates for patients aged > or = 70 years diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and to identify prognostic factors, which will help in choosing optimal therapies for individual patients.

Information was gathered retrospectively for 81 patients aged > or = 70 years with pancreatic cancer. Clinical parameters, treatments received and survival curves from initial treatment were analyzed.

Overall median survival was 6.2 months. Patients who underwent surgical therapy had the best median survival rate of 26.5 months, followed by patients receiving chemotherapy (6.6 months), chemoradiotherapy (5.7 months) and best supportive care (3.4 months). Further analysis showed that the median survival of chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy groups was 8.1 and 11.3 months for stage III, 6.2 and 3.9 months for stage IV respectively. Independent negative prognostic factor for survival were Karnofsky performance status < or = 80 and presence of distant metastases.

Long-term survival can be achieved through surgical resection in patients aged > or = 70 at early stage. Chemotherapy should be considered for patients with better expected survival. Radiation therapy should be applied for stage III patients. However, it was not associated with survival benefit for stage IV. Karnofsky performance status and distant metastases are independent prognostic factors.