Table 1.
Study year | Number of patients | Inclusion criteria Resection status | 5-FU based therapy (months) | Follow-up (months) | p | Preoperative diagnostics | Postoperative Imaging | Inked margin |
GITSG-1985 [10] | 49 | R0 | RCT 21.0 | 10.9 | 0.005 | No | No | No |
EORTC-1999 [11] | 114* | R0 | RCT 17.1 | 12.6 | 0.099 | No | No | No |
ESPAC-1-2004 [12] | 289§ | R0 or R1 | Cx 21.6 | 16.9 | n.a. | No | No | No |
# Median survival rates from three randomised studies in patients with resected pancreatic carcinoma. None of these trials used either high quality preoperative imaging to evaluate resectability, or postoperative imaging, to exclude tumour persistence or distant metastasis.
* The EORTC trial comprised 218 patients with periampullary and pancreatic carcinoma. The results shown here are based upon the 114 patients with pancreatic carcinoma.
§ 541 patients were included into ESPAC-1, but only 289 were included into 2 × 2 factorial randomisation. Trial arms: observation, chemotherapy, chemoradiation, chemoradiation followed by chemotherapy. The table gives the survival rates fort he best treatment arm (chemotherapy) and observation.