Pancreatic Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Pancreatic Cancer, including details on symptoms, causes, treatment, information.

Carbohydrate antigen 19.9 accurately selects patients for laparoscopic assessment to determine resectability of pancreatic malignancy.

Halloran CM, Ghaneh P, Connor S, Sutton R, Neoptolemos JP, Raraty MG

Division of Surgery and Oncology, School of Cancer Studies, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopy with laparoscopic ultrasonography (L-LUS) may be useful in the selection of patients for surgery to resect peripancreatic malignancy in addition to contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT). The present prospective study assessed the strategy of using carbohydrate antigen 19.9 (CA19.9) levels to select patients for L-LUS. METHODS: Patients with suspected peripancreatic malignancy that appeared resectable on CE-CT were selected for immediate surgery if CA19.9 was low (up to 150 kU/l, or up to 300 kU/l if serum bilirubin was above 35 micromol/l), or to L-LUS if CA19.9 was high (over 150 kU/l, or over 300 kU/l if serum bilirubin was above 35 micromol/l). Data were assessed to determine the clinical utility of this strategy. RESULTS: A total of 94 patients went straight to surgery, of whom 65 proved resectable: 63 of 80 with a low CA19.9 level but only two of 14 with a high CA19.9 level and gastric outlet obstruction. From 55 patients with high CA19.9 levels, L-LUS correctly identified 26 of 31 resectable tumours and eight of 24 unresectable tumours. CONCLUSION: Using CA19.9 levels to help select patients with pancreatic malignancy for immediate surgery or L-LUS for further assessment of resectability effectively increased resection rates and reduced unnecessary laparotomies.

Published 10 March 2008 in Br J Surg, 95(4): 453-9.
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