Toxicity and Efficacy of Concurrent Gemcitabine and Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer.

Abstract

Gemcitabine has been demonstrated to be a potentradiosensitizer in the laboratory and in the clinic (1-7)and has proven clinical systemic activity to pancreaticcancer. Responses to systemic gemcitabine inpatients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinomahave been documented in phase I, phase II, and phaseIII clinical settings (8,9). Moreover, a recent randomizedtrial of gemcitabine vs 5-FU as first-linetherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinomademonstrated a modest median survivalbenefit (4.41 vs 5.65 mo,p= 0.0025) for those patientswho received gemcitabine compared to those whoreceived 5-FU (10). In addition, gemcitabine wasshown to improve cancer-related symptoms and performancestatus as assessed by a quantitative clinicalbenefit scale in both untreated and previouslytreated patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma ofthe pancreas (10,11). Based on these data, the FDAapproved gemcitabine as a first-line agent for patientswith advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

• Authors: Christopher Crane, N Janjan, D Evans, R Wolff, M Ballo, L Milas, K Mason, C Charnsangavej, P Pisters, J Lee, R Lenzi, J Vauthey, A Wong, T Phan, Q Nguyen, J Abbruzzese
• Journal: International journal of gastrointestinal cancer (Int J Gastrointest Cancer) Vol. 29 Issue 1 Pg. 9-18 ( 2001) ISSN: 1537-3649 [Print] United States
• PMID: 12754400 (Publication Type: Journal Article)