Value of regional lymphadenectomy in pancreatic cancer

HPB (Oxford). 2005;7(2):87-92. doi: 10.1080/13651820510028855.

Abstract

Radical surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy are the goal standard to attempt significant long term survival in patients suffering from ductal pancreatic cancer. The role of extended lymph-node dissection is still a debated issue. In this paper a deep review of the experiences reported in the literature is carried out. Several studies are limited, not randomized and retrospective: generally speaking they seem to suggest a positive role in node dissection. Unfortunately, this trend is not confirmed in the only two trials conducted in a prospective and randomized setting. Moreover the results of these studies are also difficult to compare. At the moment we can say that extended lymphadenectomy does not play a determinant role for long term survival but a positive trend has been shown for node positive patients.