Comorbidity, not age, is prognostic in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving gemcitabine-based chemotherapy

Objective: To evaluate the impact of age and comorbidity on clinical outcomes in advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods: Consecutive 237 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer were studied. Comorbidity was scored by Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). We compared the clinical outcomes by age or comorbidity. Results: Sixty-nine patients were elderly (>= 75 years), and CCI was 0 in 69 patients, 1 in 98, and >= 2 in 70. Gemcitabine-based chemotherapy was administered in 183 patients and was well tolerated in both elderly group and in those with comorbidities. In a multivariate analysis, CCI, not age, was prognostic in addition to PS, distant metastasis, chemotherapy and CA 19-9: the hazard ratios of CCI 1 and >= 2 were 1.25 and 1.55, compared with CCI 0 (p=0.027). Conclusions: Gemcitabine-based chemotherapy can be an effective treatment, without significant toxicity, in elderly patients. Comorbidity, not age, was prognostic in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.