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Most Pancreatic Cancer Resections are R1 Resections

Annals of Surgical Oncology volume 15, pages 1651–1660 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Curative resection has been shown to be one of the key factors influencing survival of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Although general guidelines for the processing of pancreatic specimens have been established, there is currently no widely accepted standardized protocol for pathological examination, especially with respect to resection margins.

Methods

Here we present a single-center experience with 111 consecutive macroscopic complete pancreatic head resections for PDAC carried out between 2005 and 2006 by using standardized pathological processing and reporting. The pancreatic transection margin, as well as the bile duct and stomach/duodenum margins and the circumferential soft tissue margins (medial, anterior surface, superior, and posterior), were inked and analyzed. R1 was defined as a distance of the tumor from the resection margin of ≤1 mm.

Results

One hundred eighty-eight consecutive macroscopic complete pancreatic head resections carried out for PDAC without a standardized protocol between 2002 and 2004 were used as a control group. The R1 rate for resections carried out with the standardized protocol was 76%. The medial (68%) and the posterior (47%) margins were most commonly involved, and in 32% of the cases, more than one margin was affected. The R1 resection rate in the period without standardized pathological reporting was 14%.

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of pathological reporting and suggests that tumor growth patterns and thorough examination but not surgical technique determine R1 resection rates in PDAC.

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Acknowledgments

The standardized protocol for the sectioning of PD specimens was conceived together with F. Campbell (Department of Pathology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom) and C. S. Verbeke (Department of Histopathology, University of Leeds, United Kingdom). J. P. Neoptolemos (Division of Surgery and Oncology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom) and all the members of the European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer steering committee (http://www.liv.ac.uk/surgery/research/espac.htm) contributed with useful suggestions to the development of the protocol. The authors thank V. Vukovic for technical assistance.

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Author notes

  1. Irene Esposito MD

    Present address: Institute of Pathology, Technische Universität München, Ismaningerstrasse 22, 81675, Munich, Germany

  2. Jörg Kleeff MD, Caroline Reiser MD & Helmut Friess MD

    Present address: Department of Surgery, Technische Universität München, Ismaningerstrasse 22, 81675, Munich, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 220, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Irene Esposito MD, Frank Bergmann MD, Esther Herpel MD & Peter Schirmacher MD

  2. Department of General Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Jörg Kleeff MD, Caroline Reiser MD, Helmut Friess MD & Markus W. Büchler MD

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  1. Irene Esposito MD
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Correspondence to Irene Esposito MD.

Additional information

Presented at the 5th International Postgraduate Course Frontiers in HPB Diseases, Athens, Greece, March 2007; at the EHPBA meeting 2007, Verona, Italy, June 2007; and at the 16th Billroth Symposium, Binz, Germany, October 2007.

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Esposito, I., Kleeff, J., Bergmann, F. et al. Most Pancreatic Cancer Resections are R1 Resections. Ann Surg Oncol 15, 1651–1660 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-008-9839-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-008-9839-8

Keywords

  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Margins
  • Local recurrence
  • Survival
  • Pathology reporting