Adjuvant chemoradiation therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma: Impact of family history on outcome
15044 Background: The objective of the current study was to examine the impact of a family history of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PCA) on the outcome of patients receiving adjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Patients and Methods: Between August 1993 and February 2005, 902 patients underwent PD for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Following PD, 405 patients received no adjuvant CRT, while 346 patients received CRT. Another 151 patients were excluded because they received protocol treatment, neoadjuvant CRT, or were lost to follow-up. Patients who received adjuvant CRT were treated with 5-FU (97.4%) based CRT (median dose 50 Gy) and maintenance 5-FU or gemcitabine. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and differences in survival were examined using the log-rank test. Cox regression analysis was used to control for family history. Results: Of the 751 patients included in the study, 158 (21%) patients had a known family history of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (only one family member n=119; >=2 either first or second degree relatives, n=39). Clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with a family history of PCA were similar to those of patients who did not have a family history (age, race, positive lymph node status, primary tumor size, and proportion receiving adjuvant CRT; all P>0.05). In an analysis of the entire patient cohort, adjuvant CRT was associated with an improvement in median overall survival compared with no adjuvant CRT (21.0 months vs. 14.6 months, respectively; P= 0.001). Family history of PCA (>=1 family member) was not associated with overall survival (positive family history, 20.0 months vs. negative family history, 17.3 months; P = 0.12). Family history of PCA also did not modify the effect of CRT on overall survival. Specifically, on multivariate analysis, after stratifying on family history (>=1 family member), CRT remained significantly associated with an improved survival (Hazard ratio=0.71; P=0.001). Conclusion: Adjuvant 5-FU based CRT improves the median survival of patients with resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The improvement in median survival associated with adjuvant CRT was independent of a familial history of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. No significant financial relationships to disclose.