Marital status is an independent prognostic factor for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors patients: An analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Marital status's prognostic impact on pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET) has not been rigorously studied. We aimed to explore the relationship between marital status and outcomes of PNET.

METHODS: We retrospectively investigated 2060 PNET cases between 2004 and 2010 from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Variables were compared by Chi2 test, t-test as appropriate. Kaplan-Meier methods and COX proportional hazard models were used to ascertain independent prognostic factors.

RESULTS: Married patients had better 5-year overall survival (OS) (53.37% vs. 42.27%, P<0.001) and 5-year pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor specific survival (PNSS) (67.76% vs. 59.82%, P=0.001) comparing with unmarried patients. Multivariate analysis revealed marital status is an independent prognostic factor, with married patients showing better OS (HR=0.74; 95% CI: 0.65-0.84; P<0.001) and PNSS (HR=0.78; 95% CI: 0.66-0.92; P=0.004). Subgroup analysis suggested marital status plays a more important role in the PNET patients with distant stage rather than regional or localized disease.

CONCLUSIONS: Marital status is an independent prognostic factor for survival in PNET patients. Poor prognosis in unmarried patients may be associated with a delayed diagnosis with advanced tumor stage, psychosocial and socioeconomic factors. Further studies are needed.