Department of Internal Medicine, Sung Kyun Kwan University College of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
Corresponding author:
Jong Kyun Lee,
ABSTRACT
Background/Aims: Resection rates of pancreatic cancer remain low even among paitents with operable in imaging studies such as ultrasonography, dynamic CT, angiography. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between nonimaging parameters and resectability in patients with pancreatic cancer. Method: From 1995 to 1998, seventy-nine patient with pancreatic cancer were evaluated retrospectively. 43 patients underwent curative resection. 36 patient received palliative operation (n=21) or were not operated (n=15) due to distant metastasis or definite angioinvasion. We analysed whether abdominal pain, back pain, anorexia, vomiting, weight loss, performance status, jaundice (bilirubin>3 mg/dl), CEA (>4 ng/dl), and CA19-9 (>100 U/ml) were related to resectability. Results: In univariate analysis, resectability was correlated with abdominal pain, back pain, vomiting, performance status, and CEA. In multivariate analysis, back pain, performance status, and CEA were significantly associated with resectability. Conclusion: Back pain, poor performance status, and elevated CEA level are ominous predictable factors of resectability in patients with pancreatic cancer.