Administration of FOLFIRINOX for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: Physician Practice Patterns During Early Use

Advanced pancreatic cancer results in high morbidity and mortality. The standard of care treatment in the advanced setting changed in 2011 with the introduction of FOLFIRINOX (FFX) chemotherapy. However, it was highly toxic with significant risk of complications. We assessed the practice patterns of medical oncologists across Canada.

We performed a retrospective study of consecutive patients with advanced pancreatic cancer treated with FFX at eight Canadian cancer centers. Demographic, treatment, and outcome data were collected and analyzed.

The median age of the patients was 61 (range 24-80), 43% were female, 96% had an ECOG PS of 0 or 1, and 50% had three or more metastatic sites. The median follow-up time was 20.8 months (95%CI 18.6-24.9). Physicians started FFX at the standard dose 31% of the time. Physicians prescribed GCSF for primary prophylaxis most when giving standard-dose FFX (30% of the time) in comparison to reduced dose with or without the 5-FU bolus. Dose reductions occurred in 78.1% of patients, while dose delay occurred in 65.2% of patients.

Medical oncologists in Canada historically prescribed FFX to patients with advanced pancreatic cancer in a fashion that was not uniform, prior to the emergence of evidence for upfront dose reductions.