Abstract
BACKGROUND: Improvement in survival from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been reported in trial settings but is less explored in unselected cohorts. The aim of this study was to assess trends in provision of treatments and survival in Norway over a 15-year period following the implementation of hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) multidisciplinary teams, centralization of surgery, and implementation of modern chemotherapy (CTx) regimens. METHODS: A population-based observational study was conducted by analysing all patients diagnosed with PDAC between 2004 and 2018 using coupled data from the Cancer Registry of Norway and the National Patient Registry. RESULTS: A total of 10 630 patients were identified, of whom 1492 (14.0 per cent) underwent surgical resection. The resection rate, median age of those resected, and provision of perioperative CTx all increased over time. Median overall survival after resection improved from 16.0 months in the period 2004 to 2008 to 25.1 months in the period 2014 to 2018 (P < 0.001). For non-resected patients there was a rise in the provision of palliative chemotherapy, but little survival gain over time (median overall survival for 2004 to 2008 was 3.2 months versus 4.2 months for 2014 to 2018; P < 0.001). The rate of patients who did not receive any tumour-directed treatment (neither CTx nor surgery) was 44.3 per cent (2481 of 5603 patients) and decreased from 52.9 per cent in 2010 to 37.9 per cent in 2018 (P < 0.001). The median overall survival for all patients with PDAC increased from 3.7 months for 2004 to 2008 to 5.8 months for 2014 to 2018 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Survival after resection increased substantially, as did national resection rates. Little development in the provision of CTx or survival was observed for non-resected patients.