The results of pancreatic surgery in Inuit patients from Greenland 1999-2022

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Kerstin Almdal, Jan Storkholm, Simon Bernth-Andersen, Carsten Palnaes Hansen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023
• Subjects: Pancreatic surgery; cancer; Inuit; Greenland; outcome; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Circumpolar Health; greenlandic; International Journal of Circumpolar Health; inuit
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2023.2208392; https://doaj.org/article/fb5c002591204c1fa404d317213f14d9

ABSTRACTThe study evaluates the outcome after surgery for pancreatic and periampullary tumors in Greenlandic Inuit with overall survival (OS) of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) as secondary outcome. Results were compared with Danish patients with an identical tumor stage and age operated at the same hospital during the same period from 31. January 1999 to 31. January 2021. Follow up was minimum one year. Preoperative health data shoved a higher rate of smoking among Greenlandic patients, but a lower preoperative comorbidity than in Danish patients. Patients from Greenland had a lower resection rate and a higher rate of palliative operations. Postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality were not significantly different. Adjuvant oncologic treatment was well accepted by Greenlandic patients but less common in a palliative setting than in Danish patients. The one, two, and five-year survival in Greenlandic and Danish patients after radical operation for PDAC was 54.4% vs. 74.6%, 23.4% vs. 48.6%, and 0.0% vs. 23.4%, respectively. The overall survival with non-resectable PDAC was 5.9 and 8.8 months, respectively. It is concluded that although patients from Greenland have the same access to specialized treatment, the outcome after treatment for pancreatic and periampullary cancer is less favorable than in Danish patients.