Minimally invasive radical pancreatectomy for left-sided pancreatic cancer:Current status and future perspectives

Minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy has been regarded as a safe and effective treatment for benign and borderline malignant pancreatic lesions.However,its application for left-sided pancreatic cancer is still being debated.The clinical evidence for radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy(RAMPS)-based minimally invasive approaches for leftsided pancreatic cancer was reviewed.Potential indications and surgical concepts for minimally invasive RAMPS were suggested.Despite the limited clinical evidence for minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy in left-sided pancreatic cancer,the currently available clinical evidence supports the use of laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy under oncologic principles in wellselected left sided pancreatic cancers.A pancreasconfined tumor with an intact fascia layer between the pancreas and left adrenal gland/kidney positioned more than 1 or 2 cm away from the celiac axis is thought to constitute a good condition for the use of margin-negative minimally invasive RAMPS.The use of minimally invasive(laparoscopic or robotic)anterior RAMPS is feasible and safe for margin-negative resection in wellselected left-sided pancreatic cancer.The oncologic feasibility of the procedure remains to be determined;however,the currently available interim results indicate that even oncologic outcomes will not be inferior to those of open radical distal pancreatosplenectomy.

Negative oncologic impact of poor postoperative pain control in left-sided pancreatic cancer

AIMTo investigate the association between postoperative pain control and oncologic outcomes in resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).METHODSFrom January 2009 to December 2014, 221 patients were diagnosed with PDAC and underwent resection with curative intent. Retrospective review of the patients was performed based on electronic medical records system. One patient without records of numerical rating scale (NRS) pain intensity scores was excluded and eight patients who underwent total pancreatectomy were also excluded. NRS scores during 7 postoperative days following resection of PDAC were reviewed along with clinicopathologic characteristics. Patients were stratified into a good pain control group and a poor pain control group according to the difference in average pain intensity between the early (POD 1, 2, 3) and late (POD 5, 7) postoperative periods. Cox-proportional hazards multivariate analysis was performed to determine association between postoperative pain control and oncologic outcomes.RESULTSA total of 212 patients were dichotomized into good pain control group (n = 162) and poor pain control group (n = 66). Median follow-up period was 17 mo. A negative impact of poor postoperative pain control on overall survival (OS) was observed in the group of patients receiving distal pancreatectomy (DP group; 42.0 mo vs 5.0 mo, P = 0.001). Poor postoperative pain control was also associated with poor disease-free survival (DFS) in the DP group (18.0 mo vs 8.0 mo, P = 0.001). Patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy or pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD group) did not show associations between postoperative pain control and oncologic outcomes. Poor patients’ perceived pain control was revealed as an independent risk factor of both DFS (HR = 4.157; 95%CI: 1.938-8.915; P < 0.001) and OS (HR = 4.741; 95%CI: 2.214-10.153; P < 0.001) in resected left-sided pancreatic cancer.CONCLUSIONAdequate postoperative pain relief during the early postoperative period has important clinical implications for oncologic outcomes after resection of left-sided pancreatic cancer.

Preoperative defining system for pancreatic head cancer considering surgical resection

AIM: To provide appropriate treatment, it is crucial to share the clinical status of pancreas head cancer among multidisciplinary treatment members.METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the medical records of 113 patients who underwent surgery for pancreas head cancer from January 2008 to December 2012 was performed. We developed preoperative defining system of pancreatic head cancer by describing “resectability - tumor location - vascular relationship - adjacent organ involvement - preoperative CA19-9 (initial bilirubin level) - vascular anomaly”. The oncologic correlations with this reporting system were evaluated.RESULTS: Among 113 patients, there were 75 patients (66.4%) with resectable, 34 patients (30.1%) with borderline resectable, and 4 patients (3.5%) with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Mean disease-free survival was 24.8 mo (95%CI: 19.6-30.1) with a 5-year disease-free survival rate of 13.5%. Pretreatment tumor size ≥ 2.4 cm [Exp(B) = 3.608, 95%CI: 1.512-8.609, P = 0.044] and radiologic vascular invasion [Exp(B) = 5.553, 95%CI: 2.269-14.589, P = 0.002] were independent predictive factors for neoadjuvant treatment. Borderline resectability [Exp(B) = 0.222, P = 0.008], pancreatic head cancer involving the pancreatic neck [Exp(B) = 9.461, P = 0.001] and arterial invasion [Exp(B) = 6.208, P = 0.010], and adjusted CA19-9 ≥ 50 [Exp(B) = 1.972 P = 0.019] were identified as prognostic clinical factors to predict tumor recurrence.CONCLUSION: The suggested preoperative defining system can help with designing treatment plans and also predict oncologic outcomes.