2014 Volume 47 Issue 11 Pages 704-710
The prognosis of metastatic or locally advanced pancreatic cancer is extremely poor. Results of neoadjuvant chemotherapy approaches for achieving improved resectability are currently unsatisfactory. We report a rare case of initially unresectable pancreas cancer treated by adjuvant surgery after chemotherapy for three years and nine months from initial treatment. A 73-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for pancreatic tumor. Abdominal CT scan revealed a 2.5-cm mass in the pancreas head, which involved the common hepatic artery and celiac axis. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology was performed. Pathology revealed a well-differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinoma. We started chemotherapy using gemcitabine plus S-1, treating it as an unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer. After chemotherapy, follow-up images demonstrated loss of tumor clarity, allowing for R0 tumor resection. The patient underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy, with a negative margin status, 3 years and 9 months from initial treatment. Histologically, few atypical cells were detected in the resected specimens, and most of the tumor showed a fibrous change. She has been well without recurrence for 1 year and 4 months, and survives for more than 5 years from the initial treatment. Surgical intervention should be considered for unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer after a long-term favorable response to chemotherapy.