INTRAOPERATIVE AND POSTOPERATIVE RADIOTHERAPY IN PANCREATIC-CANCER

In the 1985-1994 period, 101 patients underwent resection for ductal p ancreatic adenocarcinoma. In 27 patients, the resection was not associ ated with adjuvant therapies, whereas in 74 patients, it was. Intraope rative radiation therapy (IORT) was performed in 54 patients. Operativ e mortality and morbidity were similar in patients undergoing IORT (1. 8 and 29.6%) to those undergoing resection alone (2.1 and 27.6%). Medi an survival of the IORT group was 17 vs 14 mo of the non-IORT group (i rrespective of postoperative treatments) (ns); the local recurrence ra tes were 38 and 54%, respectively. The group of 74 patients undergoing adjuvant therapies had a greater survival than 27 patients with no ad juvant treatment, both at the univariate (p < 0.01) and the multivaria te analyses (p < 0.05) (covariates tumor stage and radicality). The su bgroup of patients undergoing only radiotherapy (RT) and/or chemothera py (CT) did not show significantly better survival than patients with no additional therapies, whereas the group of patients undergoing IORT + CT + RT showed a significantly better survival (p < 0.05). In concl usion, adjuvant therapies seem to improve survival in patients undergo ing resection for pancreatic cancer.