Comparative long-term outcomes of upfront resected pancreatic cancer after preoperative biliary drainage

We evaluated whether preoperative biliary drainage was predictive of recurrence and survival among patients with resectable pancreatic cancer. Patients with pancreatic cancer who were treated with upfront surgery between 2000 and 2012 were identified and stratified by preoperative percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram-guided drainage (PTBD), placement of endoscopic stents (ERCP), or no biliary drainage (NBD). The primary endpoint was overall survival. We identified 193 patients with resectable pancreatic head cancer (33 PTBD; 96 ERCP; and 64 NBD). Key differences between the three groups were more patients who underwent > 1 preoperative biliary procedures (p = 0.004) in the PTBD cohort. PTBD patients had a significant increase in hepatic recurrence rate compared with patients who did not undergo PTBD (44.8 vs. 23.3 %, p = 0.02). PTBD patients also had worse overall survival. Median and 5-year survival for PTBD, ERCP, and NBD patients were 17.5 months and 3 %, 22.4 months and 24 %, and 28.9 months and 32 %, respectively (p = 0.002). MVA revealed that percutaneous drainage was an independent predictor of worse overall survival [HR 1.76, 95 % CI (1.05-2.99), p = 0.03]. Patients with resectable pancreatic cancer who receive PTBD have more advanced disease, higher hepatic recurrence, and worse survival.