Surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer (PCa) - our ten years experience

From January 1(st) 1988 to December 31(st) 1997, 133 patients with the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma had undergone surgery at Surgical Clinic of University Hospital Rijeka. Patients were of both sexes; 87 males (62%) and 46 females (38%). The mean age of patients at the time of operation was 64 +/- 12,6 years. 17 patients (12,8%) underwent curative resection, while 97 patients (72,9%) underwent palliative operation. At 19 patients (14,3%) explorative laparotomy and biopsy were performed. Overall 30-days postoperative deaths was 15,04%. 20 patients (15%) show postoperative complications. Mean overall survival after surgery was 5,6 months. Patients who undergo curative resection, survived significally longer (median 23,1 months), than patients who undergo palliative surgery (median 5,3 months). Lymph node involvement, distant metastases, and postoperative complications were predictors of significantly worse survival.