Global characteristics of pancreatic cancer survival: a comprehensive overview of survival analysis from cancer registration data

Incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer have either remained stable or increased slightly in many countries. The 5-year relative survival rate for pancreatic cancer is the lowest among 25 common cancers. This study focuses on the survival situation, variations, and trends of pancreatic cancer worldwide. This comprehensive overview searched 6 databases (PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results [SEER], CNKI, and SinoMed) for all articles published before January 1, 2024. Survival estimates from the final included literature were extracted and compared. The 99 included studies showed that changes in pancreatic cancer survival over the past 30 years were less than ideal. We found no significant improvement in 5-year relative survival from pancreatic cancer in most countries over the past three decades. The age-standardized 1-year relative survival rates were mostly distributed between 10% and 20% from 1972 to 2020, and with the highest survival rate being 34.7% in the USA from 2009 to 2014. The age-standardized 5-year relative survival rates were below 10% in most regions in the same period. Younger pancreatic cancer patients also had higher survival rates. Over the past 30 years, the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer has not improved significantly worldwide, and more effective ways to prevent and control pancreatic cancer earlier are needed.