Clinical results on intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy for prevention of liver metastasis following curative resection of pancreatic cancer

Background: We report here the clinical results of intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy for the prevention of liver metastasis following curative resection of pancreatic carcinoma. Methods: Twenty-two patients with pancreatic cancer underwent the radical operation between January 1999 and April 2005. Intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP) and 5-fluorouracil (5FU) was selectively performed on nine patients; the remaining 13 patients did not receive chemotherapy and comprised the control group. Results: Demographics and clinical characteristics were almost identical in the two groups. Liver metastasis occurred in three of nine patients (33%) in the chemotherapy group and in seven of 13 patients (54%) in the control group. The intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy had the tendency to suppress the rate of liver metastasis. The median survival period was 15.8 months for the nine patients who underwent the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery and 13.4 months for the 13 patients of the control group who were curatively resected without the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy. Cumulative survival rate was improved by the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions: In patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent the curative operation, the intra-arterial adjuvant chemotherapy had the tendency to suppress the rate of liver metastasis and improve cumulative survival.