Table 1.
Patient characteristics
| Variable | Level | PTBD; N (%) | ERCP; N (%) | NBD; N (%) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median age (years, range) | 67 (44–86) | 69 (25–90) | 69 (37–88) | 0.31 | |
| Sex | Male | 13 (39.4) | 53 (55.2) | 32 (50.0) | 0.29 |
| Female | 20 (60.6) | 43 (44.8) | 32 (50.0) | ||
| Number of biliary procedures | ≤1 | 27 (81.8) | 83 (86.5) | 64 (100) | 0.004 |
| >1 | 6 (18.2) | 13 (13.5) | 0 (0) | ||
| Vein resection | 2 (6.1) | 9 (9.4) | 7 (10.9) | 0.74 | |
| Median tumor size (cm, range) | 2.5 (1.2–5.5) | 3.0 (0.5–12.0) | 3.0 (0.8–6.0) | 0.66 | |
| Pathologic tumor stage | 1/2 | 6 (18.2) | 11 (11.5) | 21 (32.8) | 0.004 |
| 3/4 | 27 (81.8) | 85 (88.5) | 43 (67.2) | ||
| Median nodes positive (range) | 2 (0.10) | 2 (0.16) | 1 (0.25) | 0.07 | |
| Median nodes removed (range) | 16 (0.29) | 12 (1.45) | 13 (0.49) | 0.23 | |
| Pathologic nodal stage | 0 | 6 (18.2) | 32 (33.3) | 27 (42.2) | 0.06 |
| 1 | 27 (81.8) | 64 (66.7) | 37 (57.8) | ||
| Tumor grade | Well | 4 (12.1) | 13 (13.5) | 11 (17.2) | 0.17 |
| Moderate | 19 (57.6) | 59 (61.5) | 42 (65.6) | ||
| Poor/Undifferentiated | 8 (24.2) | 24 (25.0) | 8 (12.5) | ||
| Unknown | 2 (6.1) | 0 (0) | 3 (4.7) | ||
| Surgical margins | Negative | 27 (81.8) | 80 (83.3) | 55 (85.9) | 0.85 |
| Positive | 6 (18.2) | 16 (16.7) | 9 (14.1) | ||
| Postoperative CA19–9 > 90 | No | 17 (51.5) | 56 (58.3) | 41 (64.1) | 0.54 |
| Yes | 5 (15.2) | 13 (13.5) | 11 (17.2) | ||
| Unknown | 11 (33.3) | 27 (28.1) | 12 (18.8) | ||
| Median time from surgery to adjuvant treatment (days, range) | 63 (30–99) | 56 (21–195) | 72 (22–202) | 0.043 | |
| Adjuvant treatment | None | 8 (24.2) | 21 (21.9) | 13 (20.3) | 0.94 |
| Chemoradiation | 21 (63.6) | 58 (60.4) | 39 (60.9) | ||
| Chemo | 4 (12.1) | 17 (17.7) | 12 (18.8) |
PTBD percutaneous biliary drainage, ERCP endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, NBD no biliary drainage, RT radiation therapy, y years