Evaluation of the effect of comorbidity on survival in pancreatic cancer by using "Charlson Comorbidity Index" and "Cumulative Illness Rating Scale"

Abstract

Effect of comorbidity on the treatments that patients receive is not clear, as healthy elderly patients and the elderly with less comorbid diseases are included in the studies. In the present study, the effect of comorbidity on the survival was evaluated using Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS). The general features and comorbid diseases of the pancreatic cancer patients were retrospectively screened from the patient files using the automated system. CCI and CIRS were used as the comorbidity indices. A total of 106 patients with pancreatic cancer were included in the study. The median overall survival rate was 9.0 [95 % confidence interval (CI): 6.7-11.3] months. The median overall survival rate was found as 9.4 (95 % CI: 6.7-12.1) months in the patients whose CCI score was a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 2 and was found as 6.2 (95 % CI: 4.0-8.3) months in the patients with CCI scores a parts per thousand yenaEuro parts per thousand 3 (p = 0.05). The median overall survival rate was calculated as 9.8 (95 % CI: 6.3-13.4) months in the patients with CIRS scores a parts per thousand currency signaEuro parts per thousand 2 and was calculated as 8.3 (95 % CI: 6.0-10.6) months in the patients with CIRS scores a parts per thousand yenaEuro parts per thousand 3 (p = 0.51). When surgery, radiotherapy, grading, and CCI score were evaluated using multivariate analysis, it was observed that only the treatment modality had a significant effect on the survival rate. The results on the use of comorbidity indices are contradictory for the cancers with lower survival rates such as pancreatic cancer. New prognostic scales might be developed for this patient group by considering the side effects of chemotherapy.