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.
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BJS