Neoadjuvant therapy with nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel to enhance the resectability of locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC)

Autor: Prasad Cooray, Andrew Dean
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Clinical Oncology. 30:e14644-e14644
ISSN: 1527-7755
0732-183X
Popis: e14644 Background: Resection offers the only probability of cure for pancreatic adenocarcinoma but only a minority have resectable disease at diagnosis. Effective neo-adjuvant therapy for LAPC could down-size the tumor rendering it resectable. Neo-adjuvant therapy may retard cancer dissemination thought to occur early in pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate if neo-adjuvant treatment with nab-paclitaxel in patients with LAPC could result in tumor down-sizing to allow resection and improve outcomes. Methods: Data was collected from the medical records of pancreatic cancer patients who presented to two clinics from 06/2009 to 12/2011 and were treated with nab-paclitaxel (n = 63). Resectability was assessed by review of imaging by the radiologist and the treating surgeon. Twenty three of 63 patients had LAPC and 40/63 had stage IV disease. Of the LAPC patients, 8/23 (35%) were classified as borderline resectable (BR) and 15/23 (65%) were classified as unresectable (UR). Patients received nab-paclitaxel (100-125 mg/m2 D1,8,15) in combination with gemcitabine or carboplatin. The BR/UR patients (n=23) received a median 5 cycles of chemotherapy. They were re-evaluated for suitability for surgical resection. Results: Following neo-adjuvant treatment, 16/23 (69%) had a radiological PR and 17/23 (74%) had a major biochemical response (defined as >70% decline in Ca19.9 level). A total of 6/23 patients (26%) were then able to undergo surgical resection, with resections planned for further 2/23 (8%) patients.Of the 6 resected patients, 4 had R0 resections and 2 had R1 resection. After a median follow up of 18 months, all 6 resected patients are alive and 4 of them remain free of cancer recurrence. The median survival for patients who remained unresectable (15/23) was 9 months. The median survival for converted patients (6/23) has not yet reached. Conclusions: These results suggest that a subgroup of patients with LAPC could be converted to a resectable stage with the use of nab-paclitaxel as neo-adjuvant therapy. Such converted patients may enjoy durable improved outcomes and this approach warrants further investigation in a phase II clinical trial.
Databáze: OpenAIRE