Pancreatic index: A prognostic factor of upfront surgery for body or tail pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with vascular involvement—A retrospective study

Abstract

Abstract Background The pancreatic index (PI) is a useful preoperative imaging predictor for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In this retrospective study, we determined the predictive effect of PI to distinguish patients of pancreatic body/tail cancer (PBTC) with vascular involvement who can benefit from upfront surgery. Method All patients who received distal pancreatectomy for PDAC from 2016 to 2020 at the Pancreatic Disease Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine were considered for the study. A total of 429 patients with PBTC were assessed in relation to the value of PI. Fifty‐five patients were eventually included and divided into low PI group and 29 patients in the normal PI group. Results The median overall survival (mOS) was significantly shorter in the low PI group (13.1 vs. 30.0 months, p = 0.002) in this study, and PI ≥ 0.78 (OR = 0.552, 95% CI: 0.301–0.904, p = 0.020) was an independent influencing factor confirmed by multivariate analysis. Subgroup analysis showed that PI was an independent prognostic factor for LA‐PBTC (OR = 0.272, 95% CI: 0.077–0.969, p = 0.045). As for BR PBTC, PI (OR = 0.519, 95% CI: 0.285–0.947, p = 0.033) combined with carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) (OR = 2.806, 95% CI: 1.206–6.526, p = 0.017) and chemotherapy (OR = 0.327, 95% CI: 0.140–0.763, p = 0.010) were independent factors. Conclusion This study suggests that the PI can be used as a predictive factor to optimize the surgical indication for PBTC with vascular involvement. Preoperative patients with normal PI and CA125 can achieve a long‐term prognosis comparable to that of resectable PBTC patients.

Keywords

• borderline resectable
• locally advanced
• pancreatic body/tail cancer
• pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
• pancreatic index