Borderline resectable pancreatic cancer: Definitions and management

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. While surgical resection remains the only curative option, more than 80% of patients present with unresectable disease. Unfortunately, even among those who undergo resection, the reported median survival is 15-23 mo, with a 5-year survival of approximately 20%. Disappointingly, over the past several decades, despite improvements in diagnostic imaging, surgical technique and chemotherapeutic options, only modest improvements in survival have been realized. Nevertheless, it remains clear that surgical resection is a prerequisite for achieving long-term survival and cure. There is now emerging consensus that a subgroup of patients, previously considered poor candidates for resection because of the relationship of their primary tumor to surrounding vasculature, may benefit from resection, particularly when preceded by neoadjuvant therapy. This stage of disease, termed borderline resectable pancreatic cancer, has become of increasing interest and is now the focus of a multi-institutional clinical trial. Here we outline the history, progress, current treatment recommendations, and future directions for research in borderline resectable pancreatic cancer.     

改良胰管空肠黏膜端侧吻合胰十二指肠切除术临床效果研究

目的探讨改良胰管空肠黏膜端侧吻合的胰十二指肠切除术临床效果。方法回顾性分析2016年1月至2019年3月62例行胰十二指肠切除术(PD)患者临床资料,其中30例行改良胰管空肠黏膜端侧吻合术(改良组),32例行传统胰管空肠黏膜端侧吻合术(传统组)。选用SPSS 20.00统计学软件进行数据分析,围术期相关指标和术后第1、3、5、7、9 d的腹腔引流液淀粉酶水平用(±s)表示,采用独立t检验;并发症发生率采用χ^2检验,P<0.05差异有统计学意义。结果改良组出血量明显小于传统组(P<0.05),其余相关围术期指标差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05);改良组术后发生1例胰瘘明显小于传统组9例(P<0.05),其中改良组B级胰瘘发生率明显小于传统组(P<0.05),生化瘘、C级胰瘘发生率、淋巴瘘、胃排空发生率比较差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05);两组患者腹腔引流液淀粉酶含量在术后第1、3、5、7、9 d的检测期间内,传统组腹腔引流液淀粉酶含量小于改良组(P<0.05)。结论改良胰管空肠黏膜端侧吻合术相比于传统胰管空肠黏膜端侧吻合术在PD中能有效降低胰瘘的发生率,具有一定的临床推广价值。     

Paraaortic dissection in “total mesopancreas excision” and “mesopancreas-first resection” pancreaticoduodenectomies for pancreatic cancer: Useless,optional, or necessary?A systematic review

The mesopancreas does not have well-defined boundaries but is continuous and connected through its components with the paraaortic area. The mesopancreatic resection margin has been indicated as the primary site for R1 resection after PD in pancreatic head cancer and total mesopancreas excision has been proposed to achieve adequate retropancreatic margin clearance and to minimize the likelihood of R1 resection. However, the anatomy of the mesopancreas requires extended dissection of the paraaortic area to maximize posterior clearance. The artery-first surgical approach has been developed to increase local radicality at the mesopancreatic resection margin. During PD, the artery-first approach begins with dissection of the connective tissues around the SMA. However, the concept of the mesopancreas as a boundless structure that includes circumferential tissues around the SMA, SMV, and paraaortic tissue highlights the need to shift from artery-first PD to mesopancreas-first PD to reduce the risk of R1 resection. From this perspective the “artery-first” approach, which allows for the avoidance of R2 resection risk, should be integrated into the “mesopancreas-first” approach to improve the R0 resection rate.In total mesopancreas excision and mesopancreas-first pancreaticoduodenectomies, the inclusion of the paraaortic area and circumferential area around the SMA in the resection field is necessary to control the tumour spread along the mesopancreatic resection margin rather than to control or stage the spread in the nodal basin.     

Amylase level after pancreaticoduodenectomy in predicting postoperative pancreatic fistula

BackgroundIt is new clinical interest higher serum amylase level with pancreatitis after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) correlates with postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). Nevertheless, its evidence and study were scarce. We aimed to investigate correlation of serum amylase level immediate after PD and POPF occurrence.MethodsOf 163 patients who underwent PD at between January 2009 and December 2019, retrospective analysis was conducted to identify risk factors including serum amylase level immediate after PD for POPF occurrence.ResultsOverall incidence of POPF (25/163) was 15.3%. The patients occurred a POPF had significantly higher level of serum amylase on POD0 compared to in whom without a POPF (414 vs 253, p < 0.001). In univariate analysis, ASA classification, post pancreatectomy acute pancreatitis (POAP, serum amylase on POD0 >285IU/L) and Fistula Risk Grade were correlated with POPF occurrence. In multivariable analysis, Fistula risk grade and POAP were significantly associated with developing POPF.ConclusionIn patients with higher serum amylase (>285IU/L) on POD0 with higher fistula risk grade, comprehensive management to achieve mitigation of POPF is important.     

壶腹肿瘤手术238例分析

目的 探讨壶腹肿瘤手术方式的合理选择.方法 回顾性分析北京协和医院1995年1月至2012年6月收治的238例壶腹肿瘤的临床病理资料.51例良性肿瘤患者中,行肿瘤局部切除术34例,胰十二指肠切除术17例；187例壶腹癌患者中,行壶腹局部切除术25例,胰十二指肠切除术162例.结果 无论是对于壶腹癌还是良性肿瘤,与胰十二指肠切除术相比,行局部切除术者手术时间更短、术中出血量更少、住院时间更短、术后并发症发生率更低(均P＜0.05).壶腹部良性肿瘤行局部切除术组与行胰十二指肠切除术组的术后生存时间差异无统计学意义(P=0.071,x2=2.003).T1、T2期壶腹癌两种术式组术后生存时间差异也无统计学意义(P=0.054,x2=3.163);但T3、T4期胰十二指肠切除术组术后生存时间明显长于局部切除术组(P=0.041,x2=6.309).结论 壶腹肿瘤对手术治疗的反应相对良好.对于良性肿瘤及T1～2期壶腹癌,局部切除可达到根治目的；而对于T3～4期壶腹癌,则应行胰十二指肠切除术.     

Considerations on pancreatic exocrine function after pancreaticoduodenectomy

The pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) procedure may lead to pancreatic exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. There are several types of reconstruction for this kind of operation. Pancreaticogastrostomy (PG) was introduced to reduce the rate of postoperative pancreatic fistula. Although some randomized control trials have shown no differences regarding pancreatic leakage between PG and pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ), recently some reports reveal benefits from the PG over the PJ. Some surgeons concern about the performing of the PG and inactivation of pancreatic enzymes being in contact with the gastric juice, and the detrimental results over the exocrine pancreatic function. The pancreatic exocrine function can be measured with direct and indirect tests. Direct tests have the highest sensitivity and specificity for detection of exocrine insufficiency but require tube placement. Among the tubeless indirect tests, the van de Kamer stool fat analysis remains the standard to diagnose fat malabsorption. The patient compliance and time consuming makes it not so suitable for its clinical use. Fecal immunoreactive elastase test is employed for screening of exocrine insufficiency, is not cumbersome, and has been used to study pancreatic function after resection. We analyze the FE1 levels in our patients after the PD with two types of reconstruction, PG and PJ, and we discuss some considerations about the pancreaticointestinal drainage method after pancreaticoduodenectomy.     

影响胰十二指肠切除术死亡的危险因素分析

目的探讨影响胰十二指肠切除术治疗胰头和壶腹周围癌死亡的危险因素。方法对1995年1月至2004年6月期间行胰十二指肠切除术的196例胰头和壶腹周围癌患者的10项临床观察指标进行分析。结果术后并发症发生率为31．1％,病死率为5．6%。术前低蛋白血症(<35g／L)、高血糖(>10mmol／L)、术中出血量>1000ml、围手术期的APACHE Ⅱ评分>12和POSSUM评分>38时手术危险度较大,与手术死亡率呈正相关(P<0．05)。而年龄>65岁、手术时间超过6h、术前血清胆红素>170μmol／L、黄疸持续时间>30d、肿瘤>3cm并不增加手术的病死率(P>0．05)。结论术前低蛋白血症,高血糖,出血量多及高APACHE Ⅱ和POSSUM分值是影响胰头十二指肠切除术死亡的高危因素。     

Serum lipase on postoperative day one is a strong predictor of clinically relevant pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy: A retrospective cohort

BackgroundIncreased postoperative serum amylase has been recently reported to be associated with increased postoperative morbidity, but studies on postoperative serum lipase are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of postoperative serum lipase in predicting clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD).MethodA retrospective analysis was performed on 212 patients who underwent PD from September 2018 and March 2021, focusing on the association between postoperative day (POD) 1 serum lipase and CR-POPF.ResultsOverall, 108 (50.9%) patients had elevated serum lipase levels (>68 U/L) on POD 1. Patients with elevated serum lipase exhibited a significantly higher incidence of CR-POPF (37.0% vs. 6.7%, p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses showed improved diagnostic accuracy for POD 1 serum lipase compared with POD 1 serum amylase in predicting CR-POPF (AUC: 0.801 vs. 0.745, p = 0.029). Elevated serum lipase on POD 1 and elevated serum CRP on POD 3 were identified as independent predictors of CR-POPF. A simple early postoperative model, consisting of POD 1 serum lipase levels and POD 3 serum CRP levels, showed good discrimination (AUC 0.76, 95% CI 0.69–0.83) to identify the onset of CR-POPF.ConclusionSerum lipase on POD 1 outperformed serum amylase on POD 1 in predicting CR-POPF after PD. The combination of POD 1 serum lipase and POD 3 serum CRP provides a reliable predicting model for CR-POPF.     

Risk factors of pancreatic leakage after pancreaticoduodenectomy

AIM: To analyze the risk factors for pancreatic leakage after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) and to evaluate whether duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy could reduce the risk of pancreatic leakage. METHODS: Sixty-two patients who underwent PD at our hospital between January 2000 and November 2003 were reviewed retrospectively. The primary diseases of the patients included pancreas cancer, ampullary cancer, bile duct cancer, islet cell cancer, duodenal cancer, chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cystadenoma, and gastric cancer. Standard PD was performed for 25 cases, PD with extended lymphadenectomy for 27 cases, pylorus-preserving PD for 10 cases. A duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy was performed for patients with a hard pancreas and a dilated pancreatic duct, and a traditional end-to-end invagination pancreaticojejunostomy for patients with a soft pancreas and a non-dilated duct. Patients were divided into two groups according to the incidence of postoperative pancreaticojejunal anastomotic leakage: 10 cases with leakage and 52 cases without leakage. Seven preoperative and six intraoperative risk factors with the potential to affect the incidence of pancreatic leakage were analyzed with SPSS10.0 software. Logistic regression was then used to determine the effect of multiple factors on pancreatic leakage. RESULTS: Of the 62 patients, 10 (16.13%) were identified as having pancreatic leakage after operation. Other major postoperative complications included delayed gastric emptying (eight patients), abdominal bleeding (four patients), abdominal abscess (three patients) and wound infection (two patients). The overall surgical morbidity was 43.5% (27/62). The hospital mortality in this series was 4.84% (3/62), and the mortality associated with pancreatic fistula was 10% (1/10). Sixteen cases underwent duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy and 1 case (1/16, 6.25%) developed postoperative pancreatic leakage, 46 cases underwent invagination pancreaticojejunostomy and 9 cases (9/46, 19.6%) developed postoperative pancreatic leakage. General risk factors including patient age, gender, history of jaundice, preoperative nutrition, pathological diagnosis and the length of postoperative stay were similar in the two groups. There was no statistical difference in the incidence of pancreatic leakage between the patients who received the prophylactic use of octreotide after surgery and the patients who did not undergo somatostatin therapy. Moreover, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that none of the above factors seemed to be associated with pancreatic fistula. Two intraoperative risk factors, pancreatic duct size and texture of the remnant pancreas, were found to be significantly associated with pancreatic leakage. The incidence of pancreatic leakage was 4.88% in patients with a pancreatic duct size greater than or equal to 3 mm and was 38.1% in those with ducts smaller than 3 mm (P = 0.002). The pancreatic leakage rate was 2.94% in patients with a hard pancreas and was 32.1% in those with a soft pancreas (P = 0.004). Operative time, blood loss and type of resection were similar in the two patient groups. The incidence of pancreatic leakage was 6.25% (1/16) in patients with duct-to-mucosa anastomosis, and was 19.6% (9/46) in those with traditional invagination anastomosis. Although the difference of pancreatic leakage between the two groups was obvious, no statistical significance was found. This may be due to the small number of patients with duct-to-mucosa anastomosis. By further analyzing with multivariate logistic regression, both pancreatic duct size and texture of the remnant pancreas were demonstrated to be independent risk factors (P = 0.007 and 0.017, OR = 11.87 and 15.45). Although anastomotic technique was not a significant factor, pancreatic leakage rate was much less in cases that underwent duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy. CONCLUSION: Pancreatic duct size and texture of the remnant pancreas are risk factors influencing pancreatic leakage after PD. Duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy, as a safe and useful anastomotic technique, can reduce pancreatic leakage rate after PD.