[A case of advanced pancreatic cancer showing remarkable response to gemcitabine treatment]

A 46-year-old woman with a 3-month history of upper abdominal pain was referred to our hospital because of the presence of a pancreatic mass and multiple hepatic nodules on abdominal ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT). We concluded that the patient had pancreatic cancer with multiple hepatic metastases on the findings of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and fine needle aspiration biopsy of the hepatic nodule. The patient received gemcitabine treatment. Gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 was administered once a week for 3 weeks followed by a week of rest, this constituting 1 cycle of treatment. Partial responses (PR) of both pancreatic and hepatic lesions were observed after the first cycle of the gemcitabine treatment, and serum concentrations of CEA and CA19-9 remarkably decreased. We considered that clinical benefit was obtained because Karnofsky performance status improved and analgesic consumption decreased. Such effectiveness of the gemcitabine treatment lasted for the following 4 cycles. In general, chemotherapy has few effects on an advanced pancreatic cancer. We report a case of advanced pancreatic cancer that could obtain remarkable antineoplastic effect and clinical benefit with gemcitabine treatment.