Therapeutic efficacy of dose-reduced adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1 in patients with pancreatic cancer: a retrospective study

Abstract Background S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy is the standard treatment in Asia for resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The relative dose intensity of adjuvant chemotherapy influences survival in pancreatic cancer but does not precisely reflect treatment schedule modifications. We investigated the effects of total dose intensity of S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy on the survival of patients with pancreatic cancer and the permissible dose reduction. Methods Patients who underwent surgical resection during 2011–2019 for pancreatic cancer were selected. We determined the total dose intensity cut-off value that predicted tumor recurrence within 2 years postoperatively using receiver operating characteristic curves and compared the outcomes between the high and low total dose intensity groups. Results Patients with total dose intensity ≥ 62.5% (n = 53) showed significantly better overall survival than those with total dose intensity