Identifying early mortality risks can guide surgical decisions in pancreatic cancer patients post-neoadjuvant treatment.

• 10.5% of patients experienced disease-related death within 12 months after radical resection.
• Tumor size ≥ 25 mm and CA19-9 levels ≥ 100 U/ml significantly predict early death risk (OR 3.81 and 2.93, respectively).

Surgeons should closely evaluate these factors during preoperative counseling to better select candidates for surgery.

• Both predictors were validated in an external cohort of 473 patients.