Objective: The aim is to investigate whether additional resection based on intraoperative frozen section (FS) to a secondary R0(s) status are associated with different long-term survivals in pancreatic cancer patients, comparing to those with R1 or primary R0(p) status.
Methods: A systematic literature search (PubMed, Embase, Science Citation Index, Springer-Link, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) was performed to identify all studies published up to June 2017. Survivals of patients undergoing pancreatic surgery according to the results of FS and re-resection were pooled for analysis.
Results: Five cohort studies were qualified for inclusion in this review with a total of 2980 patients. Long-term survival outcomes favored R0(p) resection as compared to R0(s) resection (HR = 1.58, 95%CI 1.24-2.01, P = 0.0002, I2 = 58%). No significant difference was observed for patients with or without additional resection at the time of surgery when positive FS was detected (HR = 0.98, 95CI% 0.65-1.47, P = 0.91, I2 = 81%).
Conclusions: The present study did not support the concept of achieving an R0 resection by intraoperative re-resection would benefit the patient's survival. R1 margin at the time of surgery is more like a marker of aggressive tumor biology. Future well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the conclusion.
Keywords: Frozen section; Pancreatic cancer; R1 margin; Survival.