Chemotherapy as initial treatment of locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer: a valid option?

Radio-chemotherapy is the standard treatment for locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer (LAPC). Chemotherapy has been shown to be effective in the treatment of metastatic disease and we therefore evaluated its use as a first-line treatment for LAPC.

We carried out a retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients treated for LAPC (N=33) between July 1997 and April 2005, analysing the results of first-line chemotherapy (CT group) and radio-chemotherapy (RCT group) in this setting.

The first-line treatment was RCT in six patients (18.3%) and CT in 26 patients (78.8%). Secondary treatment was administered to nine patients of CT group with well-controlled disease: "closure" radio-chemotherapy for seven patients (26.9%) and secondary resection for three (12%). After a median follow-up of 27 months, 23 patients died (69.7%). Overall survival was 13.8 months [95% CI: 10.1-19.4] for the whole population, 9.5 months [95% CI: 4.6-] for the RCT and 18.0 months [95% CI: 12.4-25.5] for the CT. Overall survival for the CT patients undergoing secondary surgery or "consolidation" radio-chemotherapy was 28.8 months [95% CI: 13.8-].

First-line chemotherapy is a valid option for LAPC treatment, making it possible to identify the patients who may benefit from secondary resection or radio-chemotherapy.