Combination chemotherapy with etoposide and 5-fluorouracil in advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and the use of currently available combination chemotherapy has not been shown to definitely increase survival. Fourteen patients with histologically confirmed, unresectable or metastatic disease were treated with a combination of etoposide and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). One patient had a complete response (CR), confirmed by second look laparotomy, that lasted for 30 months. No other responses were observed. While the long-lasting CR was encouraging, the overall response rate was no different from that reported with 5-FU alone.