Abstract
Postoperative CA19-9 elevation after pancreatic cancer resection suggests recurrence but can also occur in benign conditions. This study aimed to investigate the interpretation of postoperative CA19-9 elevation after pancreatic cancer surgery in terms of cancer recurrence. A cohort of patients undergoing pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer at our hospital was included. Among them, 52 patients exhibited postoperative CA19-9 elevation without radiological evidence of recurrence. These patients were evaluated with follow-up CA19-9 measurements. The CA19-9 increase rates were calculated based on the first elevation and the follow-up measurement. The association between the CA19-9 increase rate and tumor recurrence was assessed. Patients with a CA19-9 increase rate of ≥ 30% had a significantly higher frequency of recurrence within 3 months compared to those without such an increase (p = 0.0002). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that a CA19-9 increase rate of ≥ 30% was an independent risk factor for recurrence (odds ratio 8.17, p = 0.0309). The CA19-9 value at the first elevation (p = 0.1794) and at the follow-up measurement (p = 0.1121) were not associated with recurrence. After the first postoperative CA19-9 elevation, the CA19-9 increase rate based on follow-up measurements can serve as a predictive factor for tumor recurrence.
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The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by HI, and YT. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HI and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The current study was performed in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and was approved by the ethical committee of our hospital (approval number 22507).
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Imamura, H., Tomimaru, Y., Kobayashi, S. et al. Diagnostic impact of postoperative CA19-9 dynamics on pancreatic cancer recurrence: a single-institution retrospective study. Updates Surg 76, 479–486 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13304-024-01758-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13304-024-01758-x