A comparison of two dose regimens in pancreatic cancer

Forty-seven patients with pancreatic cancer were treated with two different schedules of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and leucovorin (LCV): standard and dose-intense schedules. The standard regimen was monthly and the dose intense was biweekly. Partial response was observed in one patient (4%), no change in 12 (48%) and progression of disease in another 12 patients. Clinical benefit, measured by symptomatic improvement, was observed in 19% of all the patients, in 12% of those treated with the standard regimen and in 27% of the intense group. Median survival was 8 months for all the patients. The 1-year survival rate was 32%. Toxicity was mild. There was no survival benefit for the dose intense regimen. These results indicate that clinical benefit can be obtained with 5FU and LCV regimens despite the lack of objective response and that a dose-intense schedule is of little benefit in treating pancreatic cancer.