Surgical Eligibility Does Not Imply Surgical Equity: Recommendations for Curative Treatment in Patients with Stage I/II Pancreatic Head Adenocarcinoma Differ by Age and Race

We sought to characterize differences in pancreatectomy recommendation rates to surgically eligible patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head across age and racial groups. Pancreatectomy is not recommended in almost half of otherwise healthy patients with stage I/II pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma lacking a surgical contraindication. We characterized differences in pancreatectomy recommendation among surgically eligible patients across age and racial groups. Non-Hispanic White (NHW) and Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) patients were identified in the National Cancer Database with clinical stage I/II pancreatic head adenocarcinoma, Charlson Comorbidity Index of 0 to 1, and age 40 to 89 years. Rates of surgery recommendation and overall survival (OS) by age and race were compared. A Pancreatectomy Recommendation Equivalence Point (PREP) was defined as the age at which the rate of not recommending surgery matched the rate of recommending and completing surgery. Marginal standardization was used to identify association of age and race with recommendation. OS was compared using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models. Among 40,866 patients, 36,133 (88%) were NHW and 4733 (12%) were NHB. For the entire cohort, PREP was 79 years. PREP was 5 years younger in NHB patients than in NHW patients (75 vs 80 years). Adjusted rates of not recommending surgery were significantly higher for NHB than for NHW patients in each age group. After adjusting for surgery recommendation, we found no difference in OS between NHW and NHB patients (hazard ratio 0.98 [95% CI 0.94-1.02]). PREP of NHB patients was 5 years younger than NHW patients, and in every age group, the rate of not recommending pancreatectomy was higher in NHB patients. Age and race disparities in treatment recommendations may contribute to shorter longevity of NHB patients.