Controversial benefit of 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin-based adjuvant chemotherapy for ampullary cancer: a propensity score-matched analysis

Background Although surgery is the primary treatment for ampullary cancer (AC), the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy (CTx) has not yet been confirmed. Methods AC patients who were administered 5-fluorouracil(FU)/leucovorin(LV)-based CTx after curative intent surgery between 2011 and 2019 were included. Prognosis was compared between the observation (OB) and CTx groups after propensity score matching (PSM) using perioperative variables to control differences in patient characteristics. Results Before PSM, of 475 patients, those in the CTx group ( n = 281) had worse 5-year overall survival (OS) (82.1% vs. 78.5%, p = 0.017) and worse 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) (54.9% vs. 75.7%, p