Prognostic impact of abutment to the branches of the superior mesenteric artery in borderline resectable pancreatic cancer

The clinical impact of abutment to an artery and its branch on resectability and prognosis in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer is unclear. Patients diagnosed with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer due to artery abutment between April 2012 and December 2018 were enrolled. Contact between arteries and the tumour was assessed by computed tomography (CT). A primary lesion was resected in 63 patients (R group) and unresected in 19 patients (UR group). Overall survival (OS) was worse in the UR group than in the R group (P