Management and Outcomes of Pancreatic Cancer in French Real-World Clinical Practice

Simple Summary Surgical resection is the only potentially curative treatment for pancreatic cancer, and its indication relies on precise imaging criteria and on patients' operability. Chemotherapy is recommended, except for patients a with very short life expectancy. We sought to provide real-world information on the management and outcomes of pancreatic cancer. Among patients with a surgically resectable tumor, only half of those aged 75-84 and none after 85 actually underwent resection, even though the prognosis following pancreatectomy in elderly patients was similar to that in younger patients. Patients' refusal of chemotherapy increased from 7% before 75 years to 73% after 85 years. These results underline the need to develop guidelines for the management of elderly patients with pancreatic cancer and to generalize geriatric assessments. Background: Our objective was to describe real-world patterns of care and outcomes in pancreatic cancer. Methods: 912 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer from 2014 to 2017 were registered by the population-based cancer registry of Burgundy (France). Progression-free and net survival were estimated. Results: at diagnosis, 52% of tumors were associated with metastases. Among the 20% of patients fulfilling resectability criteria, half of those aged 75-84 years and none of those >= 85 years actually underwent resection. Age was not associated with 3-year observed survival in patients who underwent resection. Overall, 77% of patients aged <75 years, 55% of those aged 75-84 years and 8% of those >= 85 years received chemotherapy. Among patients who were offered chemotherapy, 73% of those aged >= 85 years refused. Chemotherapy toxicity was higher with Gemcitabine_Oxaliplatin/Gemcitabine_Abraxane and FOLFIRINOX than with Gemcitabine alone. Patients resected after induction FOLFIRINOX and those treated with adjuvant Gemcitabine presented the lowest risk of progression. Three-year net survival was 35% in patients with non-metastatic resectable tumors and under 10% for other patients. Conclusions: Only half of patients aged 75-84 years with a resectable tumor actually underwent resection. Two thirds of patients aged >= 85 years refused chemotherapy, thus underlining the need to expand geriatric assessments.