New
postoperative therapies are needed for pancreatic cancer because too
few patients benefit from chemoradiation
New postoperative therapies are needed
for patients with pancreatic cancer because only a small percentage
benefits from the current standard, chemoradiation, according to
an article in the June issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.
John F. Gibbs, MD, and his American colleagues
reviewed 7 select series to evaluate the effectiveness of adjuvant
therapy for patients who had resections of pancreatic cancer. "Current
evidence-based analysis demonstrates that an adjuvant therapy regimen
as a standard of care is lacking," according to Dr. Gibbs.
"We, therefore, believe that it should be used judiciously
outside of clinical trials because its benefits are confined to
only a fraction of patients treated by complete resection; patients
with residual microscopic disease derived negligible benefits."
Approximately 30,000 new cases of pancreatic
cancer will be diagnosed this year. However, only 15 percent of
patients will be eligible for surgery, and only 20 percent of those
patients will survive for 5 years. Therefore, the theoretical maximal
benefit of adjuvant therapy is 10 to 20 percent.
Dr. Gibbs recommended, "Given the
small impact that current adjuvant therapies have on this disease,
clinicians should concentrate on developing new therapies to address
pancreatic cancer." The authors suggested a multi-institutional
approach to coordinate research efforts that would optimize the
development of new therapies based on molecular and genetic data.
The authors also noted that quality of life issues are important
for patients and should be included in any future studies.
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