Background: Perioperative chemotherapy (CTX) in resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma (rPDAC) is still not considered SoC and data regarding efficacy but also quality of life (QoL) are limited. NEONAX is a prospective, randomized phase II trial in patients with rPDAC with two independent experimental arms examining perioperative (2 pre- and 4 postoperative cycles, arm A) or adjuvant (6 cycles, arm B) of Gem (1000mg/m²) and nab-P (125mg/m²) on days 1,8,15 of a 28-day cycle. The primary endpoint DFS at 18 mo. as well as DFS, OS and safety have already been reported. Here we present the QoL data of the NEONAX trial. Methods: QoL was evaluated by EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQ-PAN26 and HADS-D questionnaires at baseline, at the beginning of each CTX cycle (neoadj. and adj. in arm A, only adj. in arm B), after neoadj. treatment in arm A as well as prior and post resection and after 6 cycles of CTX. Results: Global health status score (GHS-score) (QLQ-C30) showed no difference between baseline (t1) and the timepoint after 6 cycles of CTX (t2) in the perioperative arm A (66.7/100 at both timepoints). Here patients experienced the lowest GHS-score pre- and postoperatively (50/100 in both cases). Adjuvant arm B showed a deterioration in the GHS-score of 12.5 points from timepoint 1 to 2 (62.5/100 to 50.0/100). Here the lowest GHS-score was observed within 4 weeks post-surgery (41.7/100). Physical function score (QLQ-C30) was decreased by 6.7 points (86.7/100 to 80/100) in perioperative arm A and by 26.7 points (86.7/100 to 60/100) in arm B between both timepoints. Role function (QLQ-C30) was reduced by 16.7 points (83.3/100 to 66.7/100) in arm A and by 33.3 points (83.3/100 to 50/100) in arm B between both timepoints. In the remaining subscales of the used questionnaires the two arms of the trial showed comparable median scores over the whole study period. The number of submitted questionnaires at each timepoint varied but was at large comparable in both arms. Conclusions: QoL was largely preserved in the perioperative as well as the adjuvant arm of the NEONAX trial. GHS-score was lower pre-and postoperatively in arm A. The lowest GHS-score was observed postoperatively in the adjuvant arm B. QoL was restored at the end of the treatment period in the perioperative arm A and remained slightly reduced in arm B suggesting that QoL is not substantially impaired by perioperative treatment in rPDAC. Clinical trial information: NCT02047513.

Timepoints: Arm A: 1 = cycle 1; 2 = c 2; 3 = after neoadj. CTX; 4 = prior resection; 5 = after resection; 6 = c3; 7 = c4; 8 = c5; 9 = c6. Arm B: 1 = prior resection; 2 = after resection; 3 = cycle 1; 4 = c2; 5 = c3; 6 = c4; 7 = c5; 8 = c6. n = submitted questionnaires.