Perioperative glucocorticoids are associated with improved long-term survival after pancreatic cancer surgery: A retrospective cohort study

Background Perioperative anesthetic management may affect long-term outcome after cancer surgery. This study aimed to investigate the effect of perioperative glucocorticoids on long-term survival in patients after radical resection for pancreatic cancer.Methods In this retrospective cohort study, patients who underwent radical resection for pancreatic cancer from January 2005 to December 2016 were recruited. Baseline and perioperative data including use of glucocorticoids for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting were collected. Patients were followed up for tumor recurrence and survival. The primary outcome was the overall survival (OS); the secondary outcome was the recurrence-free survival (RFS). A multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the influence of perioperative glucocorticoid use on OS and RFS after correction for confounding factors.Results A total of 215 patients after radical surgery for pancreatic cancer were included in the study; of these, 112 received perioperative glucocorticoids and 103 did not. Patients were followed up for a median of 74.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 68.3-79.7). Both OS and RFS were significantly longer in patients with glucocorticoids than in those without (for OS: median 19.7 months [95% CI 12.3-36.2] vs. 13.9 months [8.0-23.9], P=0.001; for RFS: 12.0 months [6.0-28.0] vs. 6.9 months [4.2-17.0], P=0.002). After correction for confounding factors, perioperative glucocorticoids were significantly associated with prolonged OS (HR 0.692, 95% CI 0.499-0.959, P=0.027) and RFS (HR 0.634, 95% CI 0.459-0.878, P=0.006).Conclusions Perioperative use of low-dose glucocorticoids may improve long-term survival in patients undergoing radical surgery for pancreatic cancer.