The role of sex in the outcomes of patients with biliary tract cancers remains unclear: A population-based study

Am J Surg. 2018 Dec;216(6):1118-1121. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.05.021. Epub 2018 Jun 19.

Abstract

Background: Differences in outcomes between males and females with biliary tract cancer (BTC) has been previously reported but not studied.

Methods: This was a population-based retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing BTC resection in Ontario between 2002 and 2012. Descriptive statistics on patient, disease, and treatment-related factors in each BTC subtype were reported. Kaplan Meier Curves and Cox Proportional Hazards analysis were used to examine the univariate relationship between sex and overall survival.

Results: 714 patients underwent resection of a BTC. Kaplan Meier Curves shows trends towards different survival for males and females in different BTC subtypes: improved for females with intrahepatic and ampullary cancers and poorer survival for females with perhilar and distal cholangiocarcinomas. These trends were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Sex may be an important factor in overall survival following resection of BTC. Further work is needed to better characterize the relationship between sex and outcomes of BTC.

Keywords: Biliary tract cancer; Sex; Survival.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Biliary Tract Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Biliary Tract Neoplasms / pathology
  • Biliary Tract Neoplasms / therapy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Ontario
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Sex Factors*
  • Survival Rate
  • Treatment Outcome