Cancer of the pancreas in Iceland. An epidemiologic and clinical study, 1974-85

A retrospective study was performed of all patients diagnosed as having pancreatic cancer in Iceland during the period 1974-85 (12 years). The incidence of the disease during the period according to this study was 10.7 per 100,000 males and 9.8 per 100,000 females, with age-adjusted world standard incidences of 9.0 per 100,000 males and 6.7 per 100,000 females. A total of 301 patients were identified; adequate information could be obtained for 281 patients, and 225 (74.8%) had the diagnosis histologically confirmed. Two hundred and five patients with adenocarcinoma were accepted for detailed analysis. Of the patients with adenocarcinoma 139 (67.8%) were diagnosed at laparotomy, and 33 of them had the tumour resected, with an operative mortality of 12.1%. The cancer was located in the head of the pancreas in 102 patients (49.8%), and in 159 (77.6%) metastases were found at the time of diagnosis. The median survival time for the patients with adenocarcinoma was 95.4 days (SD +/- 11.1 days), although there were two patients in this group who were alive 5 years after diagnosis. The median survival for the total group of 281 patients was 98.3 days (SD +/- 11.0 days), although 6 of these patients lived for more than 5 years. The percentage of histologically confirmed tumours in Iceland is high compared with many previously reported studies.