Abstract
Malabsorption of D-xylose shown in most of pancreatic cancer patients suggests the usefulness of intravenous hyperalimentation (IVH) for treatment of pancreatic cancer. Therefore, on the usefulness of IVH we examined autopsy cases of pancreatic cancer (tubular adenocarcinoma) who were admitted and treated at the National Kyushu Cancer Center for 20 years from 1972 to 1991. IVH started at our institute from around 1980 and has been performed in all the patients with pancreatic cancer since 1985. Frequency of patients treated at home after the first time admission increased from 5.5% in the period before 1950 to 30% thereafter. The survival time (from admission to death date) was 8.1±0.89 (mean±SE) months in 62 cases treated with IVH and 4.8±0.62 months in 30 cases without IVH. There was a marginal significant difference between the survival time of the two groups. Then, the multivariate survival analysis showed that the hazard ratio for IVH treatment was 0.62 and the 95% confidence interval was 0.28-1.38. In conclusion, IVH used for treatment of pancreatic cancer has a good effect on prognosis, though it is not so significant according to statistical analysis.
