Prognostic impact of splenic artery invasion for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail

Background: The prognostic impact of splenic artery (SA) invasion after resection for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical value of SA invasion for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail. Methods: Between 1993 and 2015, 64 patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy (DP) for histologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma of the body and tail were included in this study. Clinicopathological prognostic factors for survival were analyzed using a prospectively collected database. Results: Of the 64 study patients, histologic invasion of the SA was confirmed in 23 (35.9%) cases. The prognosis of patients with SA invasion was significantly worse than that of patients with non-SA invasion (median survival: 16.0 versus 34.7 months, p = 0.014). Multivariate analysis indicated that lymph node metastases (risk ratio: 2.817, p = 0.005) and R1 resection (risk ratio: 2.715, p = 0.006) were independently associated with overall survival after DP for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail. In contrast, SA invasion was not extracted as an independent prognostic factor. Conclusions: SA invasion after resection for pancreatic cancer of the body and tail does not have the prognostic impact that surpasses lymph node metastases. (C) 2016 IJS Publishing Group Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.