BACKGROUND: Despite recent advancements in surgical techniques, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, the 5-year survival rate of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains an unsatisfactory ~8%.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data were extracted to identify patients with non-metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma diagnosed in the periods 1988–1996 and 2010–2014 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The statistical analyses were performed with the log-rank test, Pearson’s chi-square test, propensity score matching, and Cox regression model.

RESULTS: The hazard ratio (HR) of surgery was reduced from 0.454 to 0.302 in Cox regression modeling, and there was no overlapping about the 95% confidence intervals (CI) of surgery between the 2 periods. The HR values of radiotherapy, which were new prognostic factor for resectable PDAC in 2010–2014, were reduced in both the resectable and unresectable groups. The upgraded chemotherapy regimen reduced the HR values from 0.738 to 0.689 in all PADC patients, and from 0.656 to 0.588 in unresectable PDAC. The log-rank test results showed that advances in surgery significantly improved the median survival from 13 months to 32 months. Radiotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic advancements extended median survival by 12 months and 11 months, respectively, in resectable PDAC. The median survivals were extended by 3 months for both of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in unresectable PDAC.

CONCLUSIONS: The development of chemotherapy and radiotherapy has been slow, especially for unresectable PDAC. Although advances in surgery contributed significantly to improved survival for resectable PDAC, lack of early diagnostic tools, which lead to low resection rates, remain a barrier for all PDAC patients.

Keywords: Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal, Chemotherapy, Adjuvant, general surgery, Radiotherapy, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols, Combined Modality Therapy, Databases, Factual, Pancreatic Neoplasms, Proportional Hazards Models, SEER Program, Survival Rate