Mirza Zain Baig, Alexandra Filkins, Muhammad Khan, Muhammad Wasif Saif, Hassan Aziz
Background The effects of adjuvant radiation therapy on pancreatic cancer outcomes after resection are not well defined in the literature. Methods We abstracted data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database to explore the impact of adjuvant radiation on cancer-specific survival in pancreatic cancer patients who received surgical resection. Results A total of 10,224 patients met our inclusion criteria with 6768 (66.2%) patients treated with surgery only and 3456 (33.8%) treated with surgery plus adjuvant radiation. Surgery followed by adjuvant radiation was associated with significantly improved survival (HR: 0.753, CI: 0.718–0.789, p<0.001). Additionally, female gender and married status were both independently associated with better survival (p<0.05), while advanced age, Caucasian race, higher TNM stage, and higher grade had worse survival outcomes (p<0.05) Asian and Spanish-Hispanic-Latino patients were less likely to receive adjuvant radiotherapy (p<0.05). Conclusion Adjuvant radiation was associated with significantly improved survival after resection for pancreatic cancer. There are significant differences in the patient populations who receive adjuvant radiation.
