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Context: Patients with resectable pancreatic cancer comprise a small subgroup of the overall population with the disease from around 15 to 20%, with nearly all patients dying from their disease within 7 years of surgery. In the light of such bleak statistics, data regarding what factors may influence outcome, following attempted curative resection is essential in order to optimise the treatment options for patients., Methods: This review analysed all English-language publications using PubMed and Web of Science databases for studies detailing outcomes following resection for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from 1980 to the present day., Main Outcome Measures: The data examined from papers were post-operative mortality rates, median survival, yearly survival rates and other factors which may have influenced long-term survival; such as patient demographics, operative details and tumour characteristics (such as example tumour size, lymph node metastases and tumour differentiation)., Results: There has been significant improvement in post-operative mortality over the last decades with a modest improvement in long-term survival. With the exception of post-operative blood transfusion, tumour characteristics remain the only significant features influencing survival after pancreatic cancer surgery. Favourable prognostic factors include tumour size less than 2 cm, negative resection margin, lymph node negative tumours, well-differentiated tumours and absence of perineural or blood vessel invasion., Conclusion: In light of these data, it could be reasoned that tumour size, on cross-sectional imaging, might be employed as means of selecting the most appropriate candidates for surgery, in cases where the risks of resection are high.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether angiogenesis, as measured by microvessel density (MVD), at presentation is related to subsequent progression of superficial bladder cancer (SBC)., Experimental Design: Archived primary bladder tumors from 180 patients were stained with a monoclonal antibody against cluster determinant 34 to label vessels. Image analysis was used to count MVD in 30 randomly selected areas in each case., Results: Of the 170 patients evaluated, 37 progressed to muscle invasive disease. A strong association was found between the intensity of angiogenesis and clinical stage, pT1 tumors having a higher MVD than pTa disease. The median MVD was significantly higher at presentation in those patients that subsequently developed progressive SBC than in those that did not progress (P < 0.0001). pT1 (P = 0.001), grade 3 disease (P = 0.002), and MVD (P = 0.008) were found to predict subsequent disease progression on univariable analysis. Both MVD (P = 0.007) and pT1 disease (P = 0.044) remained significant predictive factors for subsequent disease progression on multivariable analysis., Conclusion: MVD in SBC at presentation is significantly higher in those cases that subsequently progress to muscle invasive disease.