Portal venous resection in cancer of the pancreatic head: What are the relevant predictors of survival?

Introduction: When tumors are found to be adherent to the superior mesenteric or portal vein during pancreatoduodenectomy, en bloc portal venous resection (PVR) is an option to achieve complete tumor resection. It has also been reported that PVR without confirmed histopathologic portal venous infiltration (PVI) is associated with significantly better survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate oncologic outcome and prognostic factors in patients receiving PVR for pancreatic cancer. Methods: A unicenter retrospective study was performed on the basis of a prospectively maintained database. IBM SPSS Version 21 was used for all calculations with the significance level set to p=0.05. Results: From 2001 to 2013, 103 patients received pancreatoduodenectomy with PVR for pancreatic head cancer. Median survival in patients with PVR without PVI was 25 months, whereas confirmed PVI was associated with poor median survival of 14 months (p