Prognostic value of venous invasion in resected T3 pancreatic adenocarcinoma: Depth of invasion matters.

Background: Incomplete evaluation of venous invasion has led to conflicting results regarding the prognosis of patients undergoing pancreatectomy with a synchronous venous resection. This study evaluates the prognostic value associated with the presence and the depth of venous invasion in T3 pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Methods: This study evaluated retrospectively 181 consecutive pancreatoduodenectomies performed for T3N0M0 and T3N1M0 pancreatic adenocarcinomas (stages IIA and IIB) from January 2006 to December 2014. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were performed to assess survival prognostic factors.

Results: Pancreatoduodenectomies with a segmental venous resection was performed on 91 patients, while 90 other patients had a standard pancreatoduodenectomies without venous resection. Pathologic venous invasion was detected in 68 (74%) of the 91 venous resection patients. Depth of venous invasion was into the adventitia (n = 25), media (n = 28), and intima (n = 15). The overall survival rates at 1, 3, 5, and 10 years were 75%, 33%, 21%, and 6%, respectively. There were no differences in survival between patients undergoing standard pancreatoduodenectomies and pancreatoduodenectomies with venous resection (27 vs 22 months; P = .28) or between patients with and without venous invasion (20 vs 27 months; P = .08). In multivariate analysis, depth of venous invasion into the intima (hazard ratio, 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.16-4.34; P = .0001) and adjuvant chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.43; P ≤ .0001) were identified as independent prognostic factors of overall survival.

Conclusion: Depth of venous invasion into the intima indicates poor survival in pancreatic T3 adenocarcinoma. Preoperative identification of this factor could be helpful for better selection of patients for curative operation.