The Impact of Postoperative Complications on the Administration of Adjuvant Therapy Following Pancreaticoduodenectomy for Adenocarcinoma

ABSTRACT Background. The impact of postoperative complications on the administration of adjuvant therapy following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for adenocarcinoma is still unclear. Methods. A retrospective review of all patients undergoing PD at our institution between 1995 and 2011 was performed. Clinicopathological data, including ClavienDindo complication grade, time to adjuvant therapy (TTA), and survival, were analyzed. Approximately 45,200 cases of pancreatic cancer (PC) are diagnosed yearly in the US, with 38,500-attributable cancer-related deaths. 1 The overall 5-year survival rate for PC is only 6 %, 1 and even for resectable cancers, the 5-year survival rate following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is less than 20 %. 2-7 Local and systemic recurrence are common following PD, suggesting both systemic and local adjuvant therapy are necessary to improve outcomes