Role of adjuvant chemotherapy on recurrence and survival in patients with resected ampulla of Vater carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Owing to rarity of disease and lack of prospective studies, data supporting the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in ampulla of Vater (AoV) carcinoma is limited. AIM: To evaluate whether adjuvant chemotherapy cases for AoV carcinoma had better disease-free survival (DFS) rates than cases of observation following curative surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the association between adjuvant chemotherapy and DFS and overall survival (OS) in patients with stage IB-III AoV carcinoma who underwent curative surgical resection. Fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy was administered after surgery at the discretion of the physician. Adjusted multivariate regression models were used to evaluate the association between adjuvant chemotherapy and survival outcomes. RESULTS: Of the total 104 patients who underwent curative surgery, 52 received adjuvant chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis revealed that higher histologic grade [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.24, P = 0.046], advanced tumor stage (HR = 1.85, P = 0.030), and vascular invasion (HR = 2.14, P = 0.010) were associated with shorter DFS. Adjuvant chemotherapy improved DFS compared to the observation group (HR = 0.50, P = 0.015) and tended to be associated with a longer OS, although the difference was not statistically significant (HR = 0.58, P = 0.098). CONCLUSION: Among patients with resected AoV carcinoma, the adjuvant chemotherapy group was not associated with a significant survival benefit compared to the observation group. However, on multivariate analysis adjusting for prognostic factors, adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery was an independent prognostic factor for DFS in patients with resected AoV carcinoma. Further studies are needed to investigate the effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy according to histologic phenotype.