The basal nutritional state of PDAC patients is the dominant factor for completing adjuvant chemotherapy

Purpose Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly lethal, and several clinical trials have shown that adjuvant chemotherapy after curative resection can improve the prognosis of these patients. However, the adjuvant chemotherapy completion rate is less than satisfactory. If this rate could be increased then the overall prognosis of PDAC might be improved; however, reports addressing this problem are insufficient. To elucidate the factors, we retrospectively investigated PDAC patients. Methods Various factors of 121 PDAC patients undergoing R0 resection, including preoperatively treated patients, were investigated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the factors that were associated with the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy. Results The analysis identified age and the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) as significant independent factors. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of age yielded a cutoff value of 67 years (sensitivity, 64%; specificity, 78%). Univariate and multivariate analyses of the 61 patients who were over 67 years of age revealed that the PNI (odds ratio, 0.85; P = 0.048) and Evans grade (odds ratio, 0.041; P = 0.0010) were significant factors for the completion of chemotherapy. Conclusions The results of our investigation suggest that nutrition should be controlled in older PDAC patients to facilitate the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy.