http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/10381/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13713/ 2008-05-29T00:00:00Z Pancreatic cancer, including ampullary, distal bile duct and pancreatic head cancer, is one of the most lethal human cancers and still is a major unsolved health problem at the start of the 21st century. It has been estimated that this disease causes 30.000 deaths per year in the USA with an incidence of 9-10 cases per 100.000 and slightly increased male: female and black: white ratios. The incidence of pancreatic cancer in the Netherlands is approximately 8.4 per 100.000 patients. This number has been quite steady over the past ten years. Pancreatic cancer currently ranks as the fifth most common cause of cancer related deaths in the western countries. Over the past 20 years the disease continuous to have an appalling prognosis with less than 1% of patients surviving more than 5 years from diagnosis, so that mortality rates and annual incidence are virtually identical. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10365/ 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z OBJECTIVE: A prospective randomized multicenter study was performed to assess whether the results of pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy (PPPD) equal those of the standard Whipple (SW) operation, especially with respect to duration of surgery, blood loss, hospital stay, delayed gastric emptying (DGE), and survival. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: PPPD has been associated with a higher incidence of delayed gastric emptying, resulting in a prolonged period of postoperative nasogastric suctioning. Another criticism of the pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy for patients with a malignancy is the radicalness of the resection. On the other hand, PPPD might be associated with a shorter operation time and less blood loss. METHODS: A prospective randomized multicenter study was performed in a nonselected series of 170 consecutive patients. All patients with suspicion of pancreatic or periampullary tumor were included and randomized for a SW or a PPPD resection. Data concerning patients' demographics, intraoperative and histologic findings, as well as postoperative mortality, morbidity, and follow-up up to 115 months after discharge, were analyzed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences noted in age, sex distribution, tumor localization, and staging. There were no differences in median blood loss and duration of operation between the 2 techniques. DGE was observed equally in the 2 groups. There was only a marginal difference in postoperative weight loss in favor of the standard Whipple procedure. Overall operative mortality was 5.3%. Tumor positive resection margins were found for 12 patients of the SW group and 19 patients of the PPPD group (P < 0.23). Long-term follow-up showed no significant statistical differences in survival between the 2 groups (P < 0.90). CONCLUSIONS: The SW and PPPD operations were associated with comparable operation time, blood loss, hospital stay, mortality, morbidity, and incidence of DGE. The overall long-term and disease-free survival was comparable in both groups. Both surgical procedures are equally effective for the treatment of pancreatic and periampullary carcinoma.