Favourable prognosis of cystadeno- over adenocarcinoma of thepancreas after curative resection

This report details nine patients after curative surgical resection of histologically proven mucinous cystadenocarcinomaof the pancreas and compares the prognosis with ductal adenocarcinomas. Cystadenocarcinomas represented 2.1% (10/ 466) of a total of 466 patients who underwent surgical exploration and 5.5% of all curatively resected carcinomas of the exocrine pancreas at Hanover Medical School from 1971 to 1994. Forty per cent of adenocarcinomas and 90% of cystadenocarcinomas were resectable. A curative R0 resection was possible in all patients with cystadenocarcinoma and 85% with adenocarcinoma. Six of the patients with cystadenocarcinoma were female and three were male. Their median age was 54±12 years (range: 44 to 81 years). Four cystic neoplasms were located in the head, one in the head and body, three in the tail, and one in the body and tail of the pancreas. There was no hospital mortality in this group. The prognosis after resection of cystadenocarcinomas was significantly better compared to ductal adenocarcinomas of the pancreas. The Kaplan-Meier survival was 89% vs 52% after 1 year, and 56% vs 13% at 5 years. Our results indicate the favourable prognosis of cystadeno- over ductal adenocarcinomas of the pancreas in a cohort of patients with curative tumour resection.