Background/aims: The clinical implications of peritoneal lavage cytology (CY) status in the patients who received curative resection and adjuvant chemotherapy have not been established.
Methodology: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 143 consecutive patients who underwent macroscopically curative resection and received adjuvant gemcitabine or S-1 chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer from 2005 to 2014 in our institution. Correlations between CY status and survival and clinicopathological features were investigated.
Results: Of the 143 patients, 21 patients were peritoneal washing cytology positive (CY+) (14.7%). Although significant difference was observed in the tumor size, no other correlation between cytology status and clinicopathological parameter existed. The recurrence free survival (RFS) rates at 3 and 5 years after surgery were 5.1% and 0% in CY+ patients, respectively, and were 21.5% and 16.1% in peritoneal washing cytology negative (CY-) patients, respectively, which were significantly different (p=0.001). The OS rates at 3 and 5 years after surgery were 17.1% and 8.6% in CY+ patients, respectively, and were 26.1% and 16.1% in CY- patients, respectively, which were trend to worse in the CY+ patients (p=0.254).
Conclusion: The patients with CY+ are likely to experience recurrence, even after they received curative resection and adjuvant Gemcitabine or S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy.