Background: Approximately 20 % of patients affected by pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma are amenable to surgical resection. Several tumours are reported as "borderline resectable" because of their proximity to the major vessels. In the effort to achieve a radical tumour removal, vein resection has been proposed, but its oncological benefits remain debated.
Methods: Our aim is to investigate morbidity, mortality and survival after pancreatectomy with vein resection.
Results: Forty patients underwent pancreatectomy and vein resection (group A), and 20 patients (group B) underwent bilio-enteric and/or gastro-entero bypass. In group A, cancer vein invasion was microscopically proven in 14 cases (35 %). Vein infiltration, tumour differentiation and node-positive disease were not adverse prognostic variables. No difference in survival was seen over a 1-year follow-up. After this period, group A showed significant survival benefits with a longer stabilisation of the disease (p = 0.005). Tumour-free resection margins and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy were the most important prognostic factors (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Suspicion of vein infiltration should not be a contraindication to resection. Pancreatectomy can be safely performed with an acceptable morbidity and better survival trend.