Exploring the optimal therapeutic management of stage ypIA pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients in the era of primary chemotherapy

Background: Data on the proper post-surgical chemotherapy (PSC) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients already treated with neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) are lacking, especially for stage ypIA. Aim and methods: We retrospectively analyzed ypT1N0M0 (ypIA) PDAC patients resected after NAT between 2015 and 2020 at our Institution. Primary endpoint was median disease free-survival (DFS) according to PSC treatment. Results: Seventy-five out of 363 patients achieved a pathological ypIA after NAT (20.6%) and 72 were analyzed. Among the study population 34 patients (47%) were treated with NAT <= 4 months and 38 (53%) >4 months. After surgery, 10 patients (14%) received PSC using the same multidrug NAT regimen (Group A); 35 (49%) received PSC with a different regimen (Group B), with either single agents in 24 patients (68.5%) or combination schedules in 11 (31.5%); 27 patients (14%) did not receive any PSC (Group C). DFS was longer in group A and C as opposed to group B (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Patients affected by ypIA PDAC treated with a proper multi-agent chemotherapy for more than 4 months show an improved DFS, regardless of the peri-operative or totally pre-surgical administration of treatment.