Conversion therapy, palliative chemotherapy and surgery, which of these is the best treatment for locally advanced and advanced pancreatic cancer?

A retrospective study was conducted to analyze which translational therapy, palliative chemotherapy and surgery is the best treatment for locally advanced and advanced pancreatic cancer, and to screen out the dominant population for the best treatment. A total of 83 patients with pancreatic cancer, including locally advanced and advanced pancreatic cancer, who had lost the opportunity for radical surgery and were admitted to Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital between January 2015 and July 2021 were collected. A total of 39 patients received palliative chemotherapy, 25 patients received conversion therapy and 19 patients tried surgery at the first visit. We conducted survival follow-up and prognostic evaluation of 83 patients. The median overall survival (mOS) and median progression-free survival (mPFS) of 25 pancreatic cancer patients who received conversion therapy were longer than those of pancreatic cancer patients who received palliative chemotherapy (mOS: 16 months vs. 9 months, P = 0.001; mPFS: 11 months vs. 7.5 months, P = 0.038) and surgery (mOS: 16 months vs. 9 months, P = 0.018; mPFS: 11 months vs. 5.5 months, P < 0.001). Multivariate and Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that age, distant metastasis, and the degree of CA199 declined after chemotherapy were independent factors affecting overall survival (OS) of pancreatic cancer patients who received conversion therapy. Conversion therapy can improve OS and progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced or advanced pancreatic cancer to a certain extent. Some patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have surprising results after receiving conversion therapy.