ObjectiveTo explore the prognostic factors of pancreatic cancer. MethodsClinical data of 71 patients of pancreatic cancer who treated in The First Hospital of Lanzhou University from January 2010 to December 2014 were retrospectively collected to analyze the prognostic factors of pancreatic cancer. ResultsSixty patients of the 71 patients were followed up for 5-36 months, with the median time of 16 months, and the 1, 2, and 3-year cumulative survival rates were 60.6%, 23.9%, and 1.4% respectively. Univariate analysis results showed that, gender (P=0.043), lymph node metastasis (P=0.002), distant metastasis (P=0.000), TNM staging (P=0.000), and peripancreatic invasion (P=0.000) were correlated with the prognosis of pancreatic cancer, that female patients, patients with the presence of lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, later TNM staging, and peripancreatic invasion had worse prognosis. Cox proportional hazard model results showed that, distant metastasis (P=0.047), TNM staging (P=0.002), and peripancreatic invasion (P=0.016) were prognostic factors of pancreatic cancer, patients with the presence of distant metastasis, later TNM staging, and peripancreatic invasion had poor prognosis. ConclusionDistant metastasis, TNM staging, and peripancreatic invasion were independent prognostic factors of pancreatic cancer.