CA19-9 decrease and survival according to platelet level in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer

CA19-9 decrease during treatment has been associated with superior survival of pancreatic cancer in several studies. The evidence to show the correlation of high platelet level with inferior survival is insufficient in pancreatic cancer. It also remains unclear whether the association between CA19-9 decrease and survival was corresponded to different levels of platelet in metastatic pancreatic cancer. We measured CA19-9 serum concentration and platelet level at baseline and after the second cycle of chemotherapy for 200 advanced pancreatic cancer patients. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to compute mortality hazard ratios (HRs) for CA19-9 decrease, adjusting for potential confounders, including age, sex, KPS, prediagnosis body mass index, Diabetes Mellitus, tumor location, first-line chemotherapy regimen, and radiotherapy. We found that the association of CA19-9 decrease with superior overall survival was stronger in advanced pancreatic cancer with a low level of platelet (P