Introduction: Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas still has one of the worst prognosis among solid tumors.
Its mortality rate is at the 5th rank among malignant diseases. The rate of resecability
is very poor, the possibility of curative resection is only 10–15% of all cases. Even
with the development of modern surgical methods and decreased perioperative mortality-morbidity,
the 5-years survival among patients underwent successful surgical resection is still
under 10%. Newly introduced chemotherapic drugs in the adjuvant-neoadjuvant treatment
resulted a slight increase of the mean-survival in different groups of the patients.
The aim of the study was to analyze the life expectancy and the quality of life following
various types of surgical treatment.
Material and methods: In a 12 years period 437 patients underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in our
department. In 105 patients pancreatoduodenectomy and in 275 patients palliative surgery
were performed. In 57 patients only explorative laparotomy could be done. The long-term
results were evaluated by follow-up examinations after curative and palliative surgery.
The changes in general condition of the patients were analyzed by physical examination,
ultrasonography, CT scan and quality of life test.
Results: The mean survival rate of the patients with curative resection was 16.3 months and
it was 6.9 months among patients underwent palliative surgery only. The survival of
the patients with explorative laparotomy was only 1.9 months. Most of the patients
with curative resection had a better quality of life.
Conclusion: Longer disease-free period, longer survival and better quality of life were found
in the group of patients underwent curative resection. In certain cases however, the
tumor-free state doesn't bring a good quality of life simultaneously.
