Retrospective Study
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World J Gastroenterol. Sep 14, 2014; 20(34): 12226-12232
Published online Sep 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i34.12226
McGill Brisbane Symptom Score for patients with resectable pancreatic head adenocarcinoma
Mohammed H Jamal, Suhail A R Doi, A James Moser, Sinziana Dumitra, Jad abou Khalil, Eve Simoneau, Prosanto Chaudhury, Adedayo A Onitilo, Peter Metrakos, Jeffrey S Barkun
Mohammed H Jamal, Sinziana Dumitra, Jad abou Khalil, Eve Simoneau, Prosanto Chaudhury, Peter Metrakos, Jeffrey S Barkun, Hepato-biliary, Pancreatic and Liver Transplant Surgery, McGill University Health Center, Montreal QCH3A 1A1, Canada
Mohammed H Jamal, Department of Surgery, Kuwait Medical School, Kuwait City, Kuwait 24923, Kuwait
Suhail A R Doi, Clinical Epidemiology Unit, School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD4006, Australia
A James Moser, Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA 02215, United States
Adedayo A Onitilo, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, WI 54449, United States
Jeffrey S Barkun, Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Royal Victoria Hospital, Québec H3A 1A1, Canada
Author contributions: Jamal MH, Doi SAR and Barkun JS contributed equally to this work; Jamal MH collected and analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript; Doi SAR provided analytical oversight; Barkun JS designed and supervised the study; Moser AJ, Chaudhury P, Onitilo AA and Metrakos P revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; abou Khalil J, Dumitra S and Simoneau E offeredthe technical or material support; Jamal MH and Barkun JS provided administrative support; all authors have read and approved the final version to be published.
Correspondence to: Jeffrey S Barkun, MD, Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Royal Victoria Hospital, S9.30 RVH, 687 Pine Ave, W, Montréal, Québec H3A 1A1, Canada. jeffrey.barkun@muhc.mcgill.ca
Telephone: +1-51-49341934  Fax: +1-51-48431434
Received: November 5, 2013
Revised: February 10, 2014
Accepted: May 28, 2014
Published online: September 14, 2014
Processing time: 317 Days and 8.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The McGill Brisbane Symptom Score (MBSS) was described and validated as a score to predict survival in patients with unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In this paper we validate it in a cohort of patients with resectable pancreatic head adenocarcinoma. It is a simple yet powerful preoperative tool that can potentially guide therapy and stratify patients for neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy trials. We also found in this study that adjuvant chemotherapy seems to be effective only in patients in the high MBSS group but adds no additional survival benefit in patients in the low MBSS group. The MBSS seems to provide a better discrimination in survival than any conventional preoperative method.