Pancreatico-duodenectomy for cancer and precancer in familial adenomatous polyposis

The effect of ursodesoxycholic acid on duodenal adenomas in familial adenomatous polyposis: a prospective randomized placebo-control trial

AIM

Duodenal adenomas occur in about 90% of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and are the second cause of death of patients who have had a prophylactic proctocolectomy. Studies suggest that biliary acids have a role in the development of duodenal adenomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of ursodesoxycholic acid (UDCA) on duodenal adenoma formation in patients with FAP.

METHOD

A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was carried out of 71 patients (20-65 years) who already had a restorative proctocolectomy. Subjects received either 10 mg/kg of UDCA orally per day or a placebo tablet for 24 months. The Spigelman severity score was determined after duodenal axial and lateral view endoscopy at 12 and 24 months.

RESULTS

At 2 years 55 patients had completed the entire period of treatment. At the end of the follow-up period, nine (25%) patients in the UDCA group and seven (20%) in the placebo group had a decrease in the Spigelman score (P = 0.6142). Patients receiving UDCA had no side-effects (0%) compared with four (14%) in the placebo group (P = 0.0392).

CONCLUSION

UDCA had no effect on the development of duodenal adenomas in FAP patients (NCT: 00134758).

Surgical management of the duodenal manifestations of familial adenomatous polyposis

BACKGROUND

Duodenal adenomas develop in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, incurring a risk of carcinoma. When this risk is high, surgery is indicated. The choice of surgical treatment can be difficult as evidence-based data are lacking.

METHODS

This is a systematic review of the literature on the non-medical management of duodenal lesions arising in the setting of familial adenomatous polyposis. Studies were identified through searching MEDLINE. Studies published between January 1965 and October 2009 were included. Data regarding number of subjects, complications, length of follow-up, recurrence rate and outcome were extracted.

RESULTS

Transduodenal resection does not differ from an endoscopic approach in terms of recurrence. Ampullectomy has limited application as only papillary lesions are amenable to treatment in this manner. Duodenectomy with pancreas preservation is preferable to pancreaticoduodenectomy unless malignancy is present, or cannot be excluded.

CONCLUSION

Surgery should be reserved for advanced or malignant polyps.

Pancreas-preserving total duodenectomy versus standard pancreatoduodenectomy for patients with familial adenomatous polyposis and polyps in the duodenum

BACKGROUND

Pancreas-preserving total duodenectomy (PPTD) was introduced as a replacement for pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). This study analysed the results of PPTD in the Netherlands and reviewed the relevant literature.

METHODS

All 26 patients who underwent PPTD for FAP in four centres in the Netherlands between January 2000 and January 2007 were compared with a group of 77 patients who had PD for ampulla of Vater adenocarcinoma at one centre during the same interval.

RESULTS

Morbidity rates were similar after PPTD for FAP (16 patients, 62 per cent) and PD for ampulla of Vater adenocarcinoma (44 patients, 57 per cent) (P = 0.694). One patient (4 per cent) died after PPTD and two (3 per cent) after PD. A review of the literature, including patients from the present study, found that 71 patients had PPTD, with postoperative morbidity in 36 (51 per cent) and one death (1 per cent). In publications containing a total of 94 patients who underwent PD for FAP, 43 (46 per cent) developed complications and three (3 per cent) died.

CONCLUSION

PPTD has similar short-term results to PD in terms of morbidity and mortality.

Long-term outcome after ampullectomy for ampullary lesions associated with familial adenomatous polyposis

PURPOSE

Up to 90 percent of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis develop adenomas in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Besides pancreaticoduodenectomy, which remains indicated in duodenal and ampullary cancer, less aggressive surgical procedure (such as ampullectomy) must be evaluated in selected patients with familial adenomatous polyposis patients presenting low-risk benign duodenal adenomas.

METHODS

From 1995 to 2000, we performed a retrospective, observational study, which included eight patients (5 females) with familial adenomatous polyposis underwent ampullectomy (with frozen sections) for presumed benign polyposis lesions. Six patients had an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis performed 2 to 27 years before ampullectomy. The remaining two patients had ampullectomy during the same operation than ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

RESULTS

No patient died postoperatively. Mean hospital stay was 15 +/- 6.5 (range, 10-21) days. There was one major complication (pancreatic fistula), which was treated conservatively. Final pathologic examination of the specimens revealed that three patients had a severe dysplasia. Mean follow-up of the patients was 58 +/- 37 (range, 24-119) months. During endoscopic follow-up, although all the patients underwent endoscopic resection of duodenal polyps, none presented recurrence at the ampullectomy site.

CONCLUSIONS

Ampullectomy could be safely proposed in selected familial adenomatous polyposis patients. Our low morbidity and the absence of recurrence after almost five years of follow-up suggests that such conservative treatment could be proposed before pancreaticoduodenectomy in patients with high-risk ampullary adenomas without invasive carcinoma.

Upper gastrointestinal disease in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis

BACKGROUND

Upper gastrointestinal disease has become an important aspect in the management of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).

METHODS

A review of the literature was carried out using Medline. Epidemiology, pathology and treatment options are considered.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Despite the fact that over 90 per cent of patients with FAP develop duodenal adenomas, only 5 per cent go on to develop cancer. In the absence of methods to detect who is at risk of cancer, all patients undergo regular endoscopic surveillance at present. Chemoprevention in the form of drug therapy may be the answer to controlling the disease.

Management of advanced duodenal polyposis in familial adenomatous polyposis

Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) are at increased risk for the development of periampullary cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of endoscopic and surgical therapy in the management of advanced duodenal polyposis in FAP. From 1990 to 1995, seventy-four FAP patients were enrolled in a prospective endoscopic surveillance protocol. Among these, 11 (14.8%) developed advanced duodenal polyposis and one had duodenal adenocarcinoma. Six patients underwent endoscopic resection of duodenal (n=5) or ampullary adenomas (n=1). The following operations were performed in the remaining six patients: ampullectomy in four, open polypectomy in one, and a Whipple procedure in one. There was one patient who died of acute pancreatitis following endoscopic ampullectomy. The patient with invasive duodenal cancer died of local recurrence. Small polyps were observed at the site of previous resection in all (9 of 9) patients undergoing repeat endoscopy during a mean follow-up of 18 months (range 4 to 34 months). An endoscopic and local surgical resectional approach to advanced duodenal polyposis in FAP is fraught with high recurrence rates, although recurrent polyps are small and may be amenable to retreatment in the future. Long-term follow-up is necessary to prove that deaths from duodenal or ampullary cancer are prevented with this strategy.