Introduction: 2–8% of all gastric cancer occurs at a younger age, also known as early-onset gastric cancer (EOGC). The aim of the present work was to use clinical registry data to classify and characterize the young cohort of patients with gastric cancer more precisely. Methods: German Cancer Registry Group of the Society of German Tumor Centers—Network for Care, Quality and Research in Oncology (ADT)was queried for patients with gastric cancer from 2000–2016. An approach that stratified relative distributions of histological subtypes of gastric adenocarcinoma according to age percentiles was used to define and characterize EOGC. Demographics, tumor characteristics, treatment and survival were analyzed. Results: A total of 46,110 patients were included. Comparison of different groups of age with incidences of histological subtypes showed that incidence of signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) increased with decreasing age and exceeded pooled incidences of diffuse and intestinal type tumors in the youngest 20% of patients. We selected this group with median age of 53 as EOGC. The proportion of female patients was lower in EOGC than that of elderly patients (43% versus 45%; p < 0.001). EOGC presented more advanced and undifferentiated tumors with G3/4 stages in 77% versus 62%, T3/4 stages in 51% versus 48%, nodal positive tumors in 57% versus 53% and metastasis in 35% versus 30% (p < 0.001) and received less curative treatment (42% versus 52%; p < 0.001). Survival of EOGC was significantly better (five-years survival: 44% versus 31% (p < 0.0001), with age as independent predictor of better survival (HR 0.61; p < 0.0001). Conclusion: With this population-based registry study we were able to objectively define a cohort of patients referred to as EOGC. Despite more aggressive/advanced tumors and less curative treatment, survival was significantly better compared to elderly patients, and age was identified as an independent predictor for better survival.

To date surgical resection is the only curative treatment option for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, survival rates are poor. Resection margins have long been used as a surrogate to evaluate success of the surgery. Their prognostic value and biologic implications remain disputed. Data was obtained from pooled data of 17 clinical cancer registries in Germany collated by the German Cancer Registry Group of the Association of German Tumor Centers. Overall and disease-free survival (OS/DFS) after 5.997 PDAC resections with documented margin status were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analyses. Subgroups by type of surgery and lymph node involvement were analyzed. Cox regression for OS and multivariable regression analysis for the endpoint resection margin negative/positive (R0/R1) were performed. Both the median OS (19.3 vs. 13.4 months, R0/R1, respectively) and DFS (14.2 vs. 10.9 months, R0/R1, respectively) were improved for margin negative cases (R0). These differences were also observed after stratifying for lymph node involvement or the type of surgery (pancreas head resection, left resection, or total pancreatectomy). Cox regression revealed a positive margin (R1) to be independently associated with a poor survival (hazard ratio 1.41). Tumor size, perineural invasion, and lymph node involvement were the strongest predictors of a margin-positive resection (R1) in multivariable regression analysis. In this large population-based study, margin status was an independent risk factor for OS and DFS after PDAC resection, even after controlling for confounding factors. Therefore, resection margin is not only a mediator variable between tumor biology and outcome.

Background: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are premalignant cystic neoplasms of the pancreas (CNPs), which can progress to invasive IPMN and pancreatic cancer. The available literature has shown controversial results regarding prognosis and clinical outcomes after the resection of invasive IPMN. Aims: This study aims to characterize the oncologic outcomes and metastatic progression pattern after the resection of non-metastatic invasive IPMN. Methods: Data were obtained from 24 clinical cancer registries participating in the German Cancer Registry Group of the Society of German Tumor Centers (ADT). Patients with invasive IPMN (n = 217) as well as PDAC (n = 5794) between 2000 and 2021 were included and compared regarding oncological outcomes. Results: Invasive IPMN was significantly smaller in size (p < 0.001) and of a lower tumor grade (p < 0.001), with fewer lymph node metastases (p < 0.001), lymphangiosis (p < 0.001), and consequently a higher R0 resection rate (88 vs. 74%) compared to PDAC. Moreover, invasive IPMN was associated with fewer local (11 vs. 15%) and distant recurrences (29 vs. 46%) and metastasized more frequently in the lungs only (26% vs. 14%). Invasive IPMN was associated with a longer median OS (29 vs. 19 months) and DFS (31 vs. 15 months) compared to PDAC and stayed independently prognostic in multivariable analyses. These survival differences were most pronounced in early tumor stages. Interestingly, postoperative chemotherapy was not associated with improved overall survival in surgically resected invasive IPMN. Conclusions: Invasive IPMN is a rare pancreatic entity with increasing incidence in Germany. It is associated with favorable histopathological features at the time of resection and longer OS and DFS compared to PDAC, particularly before the locoregional spread has occurred. Invasive IPMNs are associated with lung-only metastasis. The benefit of postoperative chemotherapy after the resection of invasive IPMN remains uncertain.

Introduction: Ampullary adenocarcinomas (AMPACs) represent rare malignant neoplasms arising in the Ampulla of Vater. Due to a lack of prospective studies and heterogeneous results from retrospective analyses, the outcomes of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) in AMPAC are unclear. Methods: Pooled, pseudonymized data were retrieved from clinical cancer registries participating in the German Cancer Registry Group of the Association of German Tumor Centers (GCRG/ADT). Patients who underwent surgical resection of AMPACs (ICD-10: C24.1) with subsequent follow-up or AC were included. Patients with 90-day postoperative mortality were excluded. The epidemiologic and histopathologic features as well as the overall survival and recurrences were compared in both groups using R statistics. Results: In total, 830 patients with AMPACs were identified, of which 184 (22.2%) received AC. The surgery + AC patients showed more advanced tumor stages and more pronounced locoregional invasion as compared to the group undergoing surgery alone. AC was independently associated with an improved overall survival (OS) in a multivariable analysis (HR 0.57, p < 0.001), where pT3-4 status, lymph node metastases, vascular invasion, and advanced grading remained independent prognostic factors for OS. In the subgroup analyses, AC was associated with improved OS in the patients with pT3-4 tumors, lymph node metastases, lymphovascular invasion, and advanced grading, or UICC stage III, whereas no association with the OS was observed in the other subgroups. AC was also associated with superior disease-free survival (DFS) in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We provide a large-scale population-based analysis of AMPAC patients, showing an association of AC with improved OS in patients with advanced-staged disease or signs of locoregional invasion as compared to surgery alone.

Purpose: The diagnostic methods for accurately differentiating the dignity of pancreatic neoplasms are limited. Worrisome features on MRI and endosonography guide the way to resection or conservative treatment with a relevant rate of failure. Intraoperative minimal invasive optical coherence tomography could be a solution for this challenge. The aim of this study is to investigate whether optical coherence tomography is suitable for differentiating of pancreatic neoplastic lesions. Methods: In this exploratory study, four patient’s specimens of pancreatic resections (white adipose tissue, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) based on IPMN and neuroendocrine pancreatic carcinoma) were prospectively examined ex vivo immediately after resection in the operating room using an optical coherence tomography system (Callisto 930nm, Thorlabs GmbH). In detail, the study investigated whether and in what way endocrine tumors, adenocarcinomas, premalignant and benign cysts differ morphologically in optical coherence tomography imaging compared to healthy pancreatic tissue. The final histopathological findings of the pancreatic specimens served as a reference and were correlated. Results: The samples examined ranged from typical fatty tissue, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), a moderate differentiated (G2) pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) based on an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) and a neuroendocrine pancreatic carcinoma. Optical coherence tomography was feasible to replicate key histological characteristics and tissue architecture in correlation to conventional Hematoxylin-eosin histology. Conclusion: Optical coherence tomography imaging has the potential to differentiate between benign, pre-malignant and malignant pancreatic pathologies by morphology and should be examined in larger collectives.