Survival scenarios of patients with localized and metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma: A population-based study

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) is notorious for its poor survival. The provision of survival scenarios—that is, best-case, typical and worst-case scenarios—could prove valuable to patients and clinicians. This study investigated survival scenarios and how these have changed over a period of 16 years for patients with PAC. Data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry were used to identify patients with localized and metastatic PAC (2005–2021). Survival scenarios, including best-case, upper-typical, typical (median), lower-typical, and worst-case, were estimated based on survival curve percentiles (p10, p25, p50, p75, and p90). Annual differences were assessed for significance using weighted linear regression analyses. Factors associated with these scenarios were identified through univariable tests. Overall, 14,622 patients with localized and 20,199 with metastatic PAC were included. For patients with localized PAC, the best, upper-typical and typical survival scenarios improved statistically significant with average annual improvement of 1.54 (95%CI: 1.2–1.88), 0.67 (0.56–0.78), and 0.24 (0.19–0.29) months, respectively. For patients with metastatic PAC the best and upper-typical survival scenarios increased statically significantly with annual improvement of 0.28 (0.21–0.34) and 0.06 (0.02–0.09) months, respectively. The best-case and upper-typical scenarios were associated with younger patients, more aggressive disease-focused treatments, fewer comorbidities, and better overall performance status. Over the past 16 years, survival improvements in patients with PAC have been most notable in these scenarios. Although the absolute gains were modest, these results offer encouraging potential for advancements in life-prolonging care for this type of cancer.