Adjuvant Chemoradiation for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: The Johns Hopkins Hospital—Mayo Clinic Collaborative Study

Background Survival for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is low, the role of adjuvant therapy remains controversial, and recent data suggest adjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) may decrease survival compared with surgery alone. Our goal was to examine efficacy of adjuvant CRT in resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma compared with surgery alone. Materials and Methods Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma at Johns Hopkins Hospital (n = 794, 1993–2005) and Mayo Clinic (n = 478, 1985–2005) following resection who were observed (n = 509) or received adjuvant 5-FU based CRT (median dose 50.4 Gy; n = 583) were included. Cox survival and propensity score analyses assessed associations with overall survival. Matched-pair analysis by treatment group (1:1) based on institution, age, sex, tumor size/stage, differentiation, margin, and node positivity with N = 496 (n = 248 per treatment arm) was performed. Results Median survival was 18.8 months. Overall survival (OS) was longer among recipients of CRT versus surgery alone (median survival 21.1 vs. 15.5 months, P