AN UNUSUALLY PROLONGED SURVIVAL IN METASTATIC PERIAMPULLARY PANCREATIC ADENOCARCINOMA

Periampullary cancer is the term used for neoplasms arising from the head of pancreas, ampulla of Vater, distal bile duct and periampullary region of duodenum. Of these, the pancreatic adenocarcinoma carries the worst prognosis with majority of mortalities within the 1st year. The overall 5-year survival is <3%. Studies have shown that pancreatic carcinoma has the shortest median survival of 17.1 months of all periampullary carcinomas. With the development of metastasis, the median survival tends to reduce to 3–6 months. We are reporting a case of metastatic periampullary pancreatic adenocarcinoma that received minimal and interrupted chemotherapy due to poor tolerance and yet managed to survive far beyond the reported median survival. Key words: Adenocarcinoma, pancreas, periampullary, prognosis