Background: Local recurrence of pancreatic cancer occurs in 80% of patients within 2 years after potentially curative resections. Around 30% of patients have isolated local recurrence (ILR) without evidence of metastases. In spite of localized disease these patients usually only receive palliative chemotherapy and have a short survival.
Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of surgery as part of a multimodal treatment for ILR of pancreatic cancer.
Methods: All consecutive operations performed for suspected ILR in our institution between October 2001 and October 2009 were identified from a prospective database. Perioperative outcome, survival, and prognostic parameters were assessed.
Results: Of 97 patients with histologically proven recurrence, 57 (59%) had ILR. In 40 (41%) patients surgical exploration revealed metastases distant to the local recurrence. Resection was performed in 41 (72%) patients with ILR, while 16 (28%) ILR were locally unresectable. Morbidity and mortality were 25 and 1.8% after resections and 10 and 0% after explorations, respectively. Median postoperative survival was 16.4 months in ILR versus 9.4 months in metastatic disease (p < 0.0001). In ILR median survival was significantly longer after resection (26.0 months) compared with exploration without resection (10.8 months, p = 0.0104). R0 resection was achieved in 18 patients and resulted in 30.5 months median survival. Presence of metastases, incomplete resection, and high preoperative CA 19-9 serum values were associated with lesser survival.
Conclusions: Resection for isolated local recurrence of pancreatic cancer is feasible, safe, and associated with favorable survival outcome. This concept warrants further evaluation in other institutions and in randomized controlled trials.