Early clinical trial tests treatment strategy for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer carries a poor prognosis, and it often goes undetected until advanced stages. A new BJS (British Journal of Surgery) study indicates that a certain cocktail of chemotherapy drugs may be a safe and effective treatment option for patients with a metastatic form of the disease.

The study, which was an early-phase 46-patient trial intended to provide preliminary results regarding safety and efficacy, tested a strategy involving injections of paclitaxel into the abdomen and injections of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (a combination of paclitaxel and a protein called albumin) into the blood.

The treatment had acceptable toxicities, and patients had a median survival time of 14.5 months, with a 1-year survival rate of 60.9%.

"Now, a phase 3 study to compare survival outcomes between this therapy and standard chemotherapy has been launched," said senior author Sohei Satoi, MD, of Kansai Medical University, in Japan.