Extranodal extension influences prognosis in pancreatic body/tail cancer: A retrospective cohort study

Background/Purpose Extranodal extension (ENE) is an established prognostic factor in various malignancies, affecting survival in pancreatic head cancer (PHC). However, its significance in pancreatic body/tail cancer (PBTC) remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the impact of ENE on PTBC prognosis. Methods We analyzed data collected from electronic medical records of patients with PBTC who underwent distal pancreatectomy at a single center between January 2011 and December 2015. The patients were categorized based on ENE presence and prognostic implications were evaluated using Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards model. Results PBTC cases involving lymph node (LN) metastasis and ENE exhibited significantly lower disease‐free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates compared to cases without LN metastasis or ENE (median DFS; N0, 23 months; LN+/ENE−, 10 months; LN+/ENE+, 5 months; p