Bhurwal, Abhishek

40 Background: Gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer can be endoscopically resected and/or ablated in its early tumor stage. Despite significant effort to address the epidemiology and populations at risk for distal esoaphgeal cancer, very limited effort has been undertaken to assess such in GEJ cancer. Methods: A SEER database analysis was performed for the study period 1973 – 2013. Inclusion criteria were GEJ cancer (microscopically confirmed primary site of malignancy with ICD-O-3 histology of adenocarcinoma). Data was stratified by years 1973-82, 1983-92, 1993-2002 and 2003-2012, patient age, gender, and race. A Kaplan-Meier curve for the 5-year survival analysis of GEJ cancer was calculation. Further, GEJ cancer data was compared with the epidemiology of distal esophageal cancer (ICD-10). Results: 32,073 patients with GEJ cancer were included in the SEER database between 1973 and 2015 (female 19%, Caucasian race 88.7%). The incidence of GEJ cancer increased significantly over the four decades between 1973 and 2013, 15.7%, 25.3%, 26.9% and 32% (p = 0.001). The rising prevalence was particularly accounted in the patient age cohorts 65-74 years and 75+ years and in white male patients followed by black male patients. The 5-year survival analysis showed a median survival during the four analyzed decades of 8, 10, 11, and 14 months, respectively (Log rank test p < 0.001). During the last decades (1993-2002 and 2003-2012) GEJ cancer and distal esophageal cancer had comparable incidences. Conclusions: GEJ cancer incidence is rising over the last four decades and is in fact comparable with the incidence of distal esophageal cancer. This is particularly true for white male patients and patients older than 65 years. Given that early GEJ cancer is endoscopically treatable, more effort is warranted to address its risk factors and to identify populations at risk who could benefit from early cancer detection programs.

Objectives. Surgery is the most effective treatment for pancreatic cancer. However, present literature varies on outcomes of curative pancreatic resection in the elderly. The objective of the study was to evaluate age as an independent risk factor for 90-day mortality and complications after pancreatic resection. Methods. Nine hundred twenty-nine consecutive patients underwent 934 pancreatic resections between March 1995 and July 2014 in a tertiary care center. Primary analyses focused on outcomes in terms of 90-day mortality and postoperative complications after pancreatic resection in these two age groups. Results. Even though patients aged 75 years or older had significantly more postoperative morbidities compared with the younger patient group, the age group was not associated with increased risk of 90-day mortality after pancreatic resection. Discussion. The study suggests that age alone should not preclude patients from undergoing curative pancreatic resection.