Combined modality therapy for stage II and stage III pancreatic carcinoma

Arvind G. Kamthan, John C. Morris, Jack Dalton, John P. Mandeli, Margaret R. Chesser, Dvora Leben, Avram Cooperman, Howard W. Bruckner

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86 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: To study the outcome achieved with three-drug chemotherapy and split-course external-beam radiotherapy as a treatment for unresectable stage II and III pancreatic carcinoma. Patients and Methods: Radiotherapy was given in three cycles of 2 Gy/d on days 1 to 5 and 8 to 12 (total dose, 54 Gy) concurrently with fluorouracil (FU) 1,000 mg/m2/d by continuous infusion for 4.5 days, streptozocin (STZ) 300 mg/m2 on days 1, 2, and 3 and cisplatin (P) 100 mg/m2 on day 3 of each every-28-day cycle. Subsequent treatment consisted of leucovorin (LV) 200 mg/m2 and FU 600 to 1,000 mg/m2 every 14 days. Results: The median survival time for the 35 patients was 15 months and 26% of patients were alive at 24 months. Fifteen patients (42.8%) had objective responses to therapy. Six (17%) had a complete response (CR). Three of nine patients with partial responses (PRs) achieved a radiographic CR within the next 3 months. Nine patients underwent attempts at surgical resection: five were resected (median survival time, 31 months; range, 12.8 to 44.7+), two had no residual disease found at complete resection, and three others also had a complete resection. Of four others who could not be resected, three underwent intraoperative radiotherapy and one had occult metastatic disease. Of primary tumors, 91% did not produce either back pain or local gastrointestinal complications for 2 years. The rates of severe side effects were stomatitis 15%, anemia 14%, granulocytopenia 6%, and thrombocytopenia 6%. Conclusion: Palliation and survival compare favorably with other series, including many surgical series. The response findings encourage studies of both unresectable and (as neoadjuvant therapy) resectable tumors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2920-2927
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Clinical Oncology
Volume15
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1997
Externally publishedYes

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