Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma is Spread to the Peripancreatic Soft Tissue in the Majority of Resected Cases, Rendering the AJCC T-Stage Protocol (7th Edition) Inapplicable and Insignificant: A Size-Based Staging System (pT1: ≤2, pT2: >2-≤4, pT3: >4 cm) is More Valid and Clinically Relevant. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: Most studies have failed to identify any prognostic value of the current T-stage protocol for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) by the American Joint Committee on Cancer and the Union for International Cancer Control unless some grouping was performed. METHODS: To document the parameters included in this T-stage protocol, 223 consecutive pancreatoduodenectomy specimens with PDAC were processed by a uniform grossing protocol. RESULTS: Peripancreatic soft tissue (PST) involvement, the main pT3 parameter, was found to be inapplicable and irreproducible due to lack of a true capsule in the pancreas and variability in the amount and distribution of adipose tissue. Furthermore, 91 % of the cases showed carcinoma in the adipose tissue, presumably representing the PST, and thus were classified as pT3. An additional 4.5 % were qualified as pT3 due to extension into adjacent sites. The T-stage defined as such was not found to have any correlation with survival (p = 0.4). A revised T-stage protocol was devised that defined pT1 as 2 cm or smaller, pT2 as >2-4 cm, and pT3 as larger than 4 cm. This revised protocol was tested in 757 consecutive PDACs. The median and 3-year survival rates of this size-based protocol were 26, 18, 13 months, and 40 %, 26 %, 20 %, respectively (p < 0.0001). The association between higher T-stage and shorter survival persisted in N0 cases and in multivariate modeling. Analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database also confirmed the survival differences (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that resected PDACs are already spread to various surfaces of the pancreas, leaving only about 4 % of PDACs to truly qualify as pT1/T2, and that the current T-stage protocol does not have any prognostic correlation. In contrast, as shown previously in many studies, size is an important prognosticator, and a size-based T-stage protocol is more applicable and has prognostic value in PDAC.

authors

  • Saka, Burcu
  • Balci, Serdar
  • Basturk, Olca
  • Bagci, Pelin
  • Postlewait, Lauren M
  • Maithel, Shishir
  • Knight, Jessica
  • El-Rayes, Bassel
  • Kooby, David
  • Sarmiento, Juan
  • Muraki, Takashi
  • Oliva, Irma
  • Bandyopadhyay, Sudeshna
  • Akkas, Gizem
  • Goodman, Michael
  • Reid, Michelle D
  • Krasinskas, Alyssa
  • Everett, Rhonda
  • Adsay, Volkan

publication date

  • January 29, 2016

Research

keywords

  • Adenocarcinoma
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC5389382

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84966507734

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1245/s10434-016-5093-7

PubMed ID

  • 26832882

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 23

issue

  • 6