The Association Between Patient-Reported Outcomes and Surgical Attrition During Neoadjuvant Therapy for Gastrointestinal Malignancies

Neoadjuvant therapy (NT) is increasingly used for gastrointestinal (GI) and hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) cancers. Risk factors for surgical attrition during NT are poorly understood. A planned secondary analysis of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from a prospective cohort study of patients undergoing NT was performed to identify factors associated with surgical attrition.

Adult patients with GI/HPB cancer receiving NT were provided a mobile phone application administering QOL assessments every 30 days and measuring mood/symptoms until NT completion. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to determine the association between demographic, clinical characteristics, and PROs with surgical attrition (no surgery (NS) versus surgery or watchful waiting (SWW)). Mixed-effects regression models evaluated trends of QOL and symptoms between the cohorts.

Among 104 enrolled patients, mean age was 60.5 ± 11.5 years, 57 (55%) were male, and 95 (91%) were Caucasian. After a mean duration of 3.4 months of NT, 76 (73%) patients underwent SWW, while 28 (27%) did not (NS). Cancer type (HPB vs GI, OR 7.0, CI 2.7–19.3, p < 0.001), comorbidities (OR 1.72, CI 1.0–2.99, p = 0.05), and severe complications during NT (OR 4.2, CI 1.2–15.3, p = 0.03) were associated with NS. There were no differences between longitudinal QOL scores or PROs among patients who underwent SWW versus NS except for the lack of appetite, which was associated with NS (OR 3.6, CI 1.0–12.2, p = 0.04).

Among patients undergoing NT for GI/HPB malignancies, type of cancer, comorbidities, and severe complications during NT were associated with failure to undergo surgery, whereas QOL and PROs were largely not.