Surgical pancreatic biopsies for cases with locally advanced pancreatic cancer with inconclusive histology after interventional biopsy

BACKGROUND: Histopathological confirmation of malignancy is mandatory in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer before initiation of palliative chemotherapy. When interventional biopsy proves unsuccessful, laparoscopic or open surgical biopsies become necessary. METHODS: 66 consecutive surgical biopsies of the pancreas performed at a single institution between 01/2010 and 04/2020 were analyzed retrospectively. We analyzed sensitivity of histopathological confirmation of malignancy as well as complication rates of laparoscopic and open surgical biopsies in patients with suspected advanced pancreatic cancer after unsuccessful interventional biopsies. RESULTS: 8 complications were observed in 46 patients requiring only a pancreatic biopsy (17.4 %) while in 13 of 20 patients complications were observed when additional procedures were necessary (65 %). Major complications CD ≥ III were observed in the “biopsy +/- port” group in 4 of 46 patients and in the “biopsy + additional procedure” cohort in 9 of 20 patients (8.7 vs. 45 %, p < 0.001). Despite the trend to reduced perioperative complications in laparoscopic biopsies, the reduction did not reach statistical significance when compared to open resections (11.1 vs. 26.3 %, p = 0.18). Surgical pancreatic biopsies reached a sensitivity regarding the correct definite histopathological result of 90.32 %, specificity was 100 %. CONCLUSION: Both laparoscopic and open biopsies can be performed at acceptable complication rates CD ≥ III of 8.7 % and present a valuable option after failure of image-guided techniques for biopsy. Additional operative measures in locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma ought to be critically reflected due to a substantially higher complication rate CD ≥ III of 45 %. KEY MESSAGE: Laparoscopic and open surgical biopsies in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer demonstrate a high diagnostic sensitivity at acceptable complication rates. This finding is important because it provides further support for surgical biopsies to avoid delay before initiation of palliative therapy.