[Experiences with intraoperative radiotherapy in inoperable pancreatic carcinoma]

From January 1983 to April 1985 six patients suffering from unresectable pancreatic cancer underwent intraoperative irradiation therapy (IORT) followed by external radiotherapy. All tumors showed T4-stages except one tumor staged as T2N2. From the onset of symptoms to IORT the median time of hospitalization was 26.5 days. After surgery, treatment (external irradiation included) required a median hospitalization period of 43.5 days. Follow up, complications and the terminal hospital stay of the patients who died lead to another median hospitalization period of 30 days. Altogether hospitalization required an average of 90 days which represented 38.5% of the mean life-expectancy of 234 (SE = 57.4) days. 47.3% of the survival time did not show discomfort, in 31.6% there were reversible and in 21.1% irreversible complaints. Therefore, patients suffering from unresectable pancreatic cancer had to pay a heavy price for prolonging life expectancy by IORT and following percutaneous irradiation.