Cancer of the Pancreas in New Zealand 1970–19741

There were 991 new cases of cancer of the exocrine pancreas in the New Zealand population for the five years 1970-74. The disease had a higher incidence in men than women and in Maoris compared to Europeans. There was no increase in incidence in the period 1950-52 to 1971-73. Most of the cancers occurred in the head of the pancreas and were described as adenocarcinomas. Seventy seven per cent of the patients had lymph node metastases or advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. Only 7 per cent were able to have resectional surgery and in 90% specific therapy was not given. The estimated crude three-year survival rate of all patients was four per cent and the median survival time was 1.7 months. The crude three year survival rate after resection was 9.8% and the median survival time was 5.8 months. The most important variables affecting survival were stage of disease and age of patient.