The Role of Systemic Immuno-inflammatory Factors in Resectable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy, its prognosis remaining poor despite the current advances in treatment. Systemic inflammatory reaction has been recently recognized as an important factor in the progression of cancer. The immune-inflammatory response has been measured through different scores or ratios, that combine the values of circulating immune cells, like neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), prognostic nutritional index (PNI). The utility of these scores in different types of cancer has been more and more discussed. In pancreatic cancer, there has been no definite conclusion regarding the role of systemic immune-inflammatory factors; since controversies still exist, a deeper exploration of this subject, through more studies is welcomed. Our study intends to analyze the utility of systemic immune-inflammatory markers in resectable pancreatic cancer.

Our study is an observational cohort study, with retrospective data collection; it is a single-center study, that takes place in a hospital with experience in hepato-bilio-pancreatic surgery. The investigators intended to evaluate the role of the circulating immune cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes) and different immune-inflammatory scores (NLR, LMR, PLR, SII, PNI) in predicting the overall survival of patients diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, that undergo curative surgical treatment. The investigators intended to assess the prognosis power of these factors in both preoperative and postoperative settings, as well as their dynamic after surgery. Through this study, the investigators hope to identify easy-to determine and easy-to-use markers that can be incorporated in clinical practice and that can effectively predict survival in pancreatic cancer patients. Nonetheless, the investigators want to explore the dynamic of the immune-inflammatory markers after curative surgery.