Related Experiment Videos
Chemotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma
1Division of Hematology and Oncology, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
Cancer
|August 1, 1996
Summary
Chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer shows limited objective response rates, around 20%. However, palliative benefits and quality of life improvements may exceed these objective measures, especially with less toxic regimens.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis and significant patient morbidity.
- The disease is often considered chemoresistant, despite various treatment regimens being investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.
- To evaluate response rates and survival improvements attributed to chemotherapy.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of clinical results from chemotherapy trials for pancreatic cancer.
- Emphasis on prospective trials with robust evaluation criteria and endpoints.
Main Results:
- Objective response rates vary widely, with stringent criteria yielding an upper limit of approximately 20%.
- Chemotherapy has not yet demonstrated convincing improvements in median survival.
- Symptomatic palliation rates may surpass objective response rates, particularly with low-toxicity regimens like infusional 5-FU.
Conclusions:
- Early chemotherapy trials may have overstated efficacy due to less stringent response criteria.
- Symptomatic palliation is a valuable outcome, even without objective tumor response.
- Quality of life should be considered a critical endpoint alongside survival and response in pancreatic cancer chemotherapy trials.