Long-term nationwide trends in the treatment of and outcomes among pancreatic cancer patients

Whilst treatment modalities for pancreatic cancer patients have evolved in recent years, their impact on outcomes remains relatively unexamined on a national scale. We aimed to analyse changes in overall survival and trends in surgical and oncological treatments in pancreatic cancer patients diagnosed in the periods 2000 through 2008 and 2009 through 2016 in Finland. We collected data for pancreatic cancer patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2016, gathering data from the Finnish national registries on surgeries, oncological treatments and time of death. Follow-up continued through the end of 2018. We compared patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2008 to those diagnosed between 2009 through 2016. Our study comprised 14 712 pancreatic cancer patients. There was no significant change in the national resection rate (8.1% vs 8.0%, p = 0.690). In radical surgery patients, median survival improved from 20 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 18–22) to 28 months (CI 25–31) (p < 0.001), with 1-year survival ranging from 70% to 81%. In the no-surgery group, median survival slightly improved from 3.1 months (CI 3.0–3.3) to 3.3 months (CI 3.1–3.4) (p < 0.001). The proportion of radical surgery patients receiving preoperative oncological treatment increased from 4% to 13% (p < 0.001) and only postoperative treatment from 25% to 47% (p < 0.001). Whilst the resection rate did not increase, the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients improved, particularly amongst radical surgery patients resulting most likely from the fact that a larger proportion of patients receive more effective oncological treatments.