Background: Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 and histological grade can serve as indicators of the biological characteristics of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the combined impact of preoperative CA19-9 levels and histological grade on prognosis and classification accuracy in PDAC patients.
Methods and results: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 612 patients with PDAC who underwent curative pancreatectomy, and a biological risk model based on preoperative CA19-9 levels and histology grade was established. The prognostic importance of the biological risk model was evaluated, and its validity was confirmed through a validation cohort of 218 patients. The survival of patients with PDAC was independently associated with preoperative CA19-9 levels and histology grade, indicating a biological risk. This biological risk was incorporated into the eighth edition of the TNM staging system, leading to the development of a modified TNM (mTNM) staging system. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated that the mTNM staging system had a significantly larger area under the curve (AUC) than the TNM staging system. The discriminatory capacity of the mTNM staging system was further validated in an independent cohort.
Conclusion: Biological risk based on preoperative CA19-9 and histological grade could predict the survival of patients with PDAC. The incorporation of biological risk into the TNM staging system has the potential to enhance the accuracy of patient classification in PDAC, predicting patient survival and enabling the development of individualized treatment plans.
Keywords: CA19-9; TNM; histological grade; pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; prognosis; tumor biology.
© 2023 The Authors. Cancer Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.