Adjuvant chemotherapy seems beneficial for invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms

Abstract

Aims: The incidence of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) is rising and these neoplasms now represent up to 25% of resected pancreatic neoplasms. The optimal postoperative management of resected invasive IPMN is still debated in the absence of large prospective clinical trials and of validated prognostic factors in this setting. The objective of our study was to identify potential prognostic factors and to investigate the role of adjuvant therapies for patients radically resected for invasive IPMN.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinical and pathological data regarding a large series of patients with invasive IPMN who underwent surgical resection in the last six years at University Hospital of Pisa.

Results: Sixty-four patients were considered for the analysis, thirty-three of whom received adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine. In our series node involvement and high tumoral grade emerged as the major pathologic prognostic factors. Patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine experienced a longer disease-free survival than those who received surgery alone.

Conclusions: Gemcitabine-based chemotherapy seems beneficial as adjuvant treatment for patients with resected invasive IPMN.