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It is plausible that patients with pancreatic cancer experience fear of tumor recurrence or progression (FOP). The aim of this study was to compare FOP in patients with pancreatic cancer treated with surgical resection, palliative systemic treatment, or best supportive care (BSC) and analyze the association between quality of life (QoL) and FOP and the effect of FOP on overall survival (OS).This study included patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 2015 and 2018, who participated in the Dutch Pancreatic Cancer Project (PACAP). The association between QoL and WOPS was assessed with logistic regression analyses. OS was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves with the log-rank tests and multivariable Cox proportional hazard analyses adjusted for clinical covariates and QoL.Of 315 included patients, 111 patients underwent surgical resection, 138 received palliative systemic treatment, and 66 received BSC. Patients who underwent surgical resection had significantly lower WOPS scores (i.e., less FOP) at initial diagnosis compared to patients who received palliative systemic treatment or BSC only (P 0.001). Better QoL was independently associated with the probability of having a low FOP in the BSC (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.98) but not in the surgical resection (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-1.01) and palliative systemic treatment groups (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-1.00). The baseline WOPS score was not independently associated with OS in any of the subgroups.Given the distress that FOP evokes, FOP should be explicitly addressed by health care providers when guiding pancreatic cancer patients through their treatment trajectory, especially those receiving palliative treatment or BSC.

BackgroundCardiac and inflammatory biomarkers have been associated with adverse outcome after major abdominal surgery. Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) may protect organs from ischemic insults during and after cardiac surgery, but the effect in major abdominal surgery is largely unknown.ObjectiveTo study the effect of RIPC on cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers in patients undergoing pancreatic resection.MethodsSingle-center, double-blind, randomized controlled trial in ninety patients undergoing elective pancreatic resection between March 2017 and February 2019. Three cycles of upper-limb ischemia and reperfusion (each 5 minutes) were applied before surgery. The primary endpoint was the maximum postoperative high-sensitive cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) T concentration within 48 hours after surgery. Secondary endpoints were postoperative myocardial injury (PMI, defined as a postoperative hs-cTnT ≥14 ng L-1), the maximum concentration of interleukin (IL)-6 within 48 hours after surgery, and postoperative complications within 30-days of surgery.ResultsRIPC did not reduce the maximum hs-cTnT concentration after surgery (12.6 ng L-1 vs 16.6 ng L-1 in the control group (P=0.23), nor did it lessen the incidence of PMI (15 (33.3%) patients in the RIPC group versus 19 (42.2%) controls, P=0.93). The maximum postoperative IL-6 concentration was 239 pg mL-1 [115-360] in the RIPC group, as compared to 317 pg mL-1 [174-909] in the control group (P=0.13). A postoperative complication occurred in 23 (51%) RIPC patients and 24 (53%) controls.ConclusionsRemote ischemic preconditioning did not reduce the maximum postoperative hs-cTnT concentration. Postoperative myocardial injury, IL-6 concentrations and postoperative complications were not statistically different between RIPC patients and controls.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT03460938FundingFunding for biomarker analysis was provided by Roche Diagnostics. Roche Diagnostics had no role in design and conduct of the study, analysis and interpretation of the data, preparation and approval of the manuscript.Article summaryStrengths and limitations of this studyWell-designed clinical trial in a selected group of high-risk abdominal surgery patients.Serial assessment of high-sensitive cardiac troponin T and interleukin-6 concentrations.Postoperative cardiac biomarker concentrations were relatively low.This trial was not primarily designed to detect differences in IL-6 concentrations and postoperative complications.