Adjuvant and systemic therapy for pancreatic cancer

✍ Scribed by Jeffrey W. Clark; Arvin Glicksman; Harold J. Wanebo

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 514 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 8756-0437
• DOI: 10.1002/ssu.2980110212

✦ Synopsis

Pancreatic cancer remains a major cause of mortality. Less than 5% of patients survive 5 years. No curative therapy exists for patients not surgically resectable. Although chemotherapeutic and radiation therapeutic approaches can provide palliation, they have not had a significant impact on 5-year survival. Phase I1 and I11 studies are evaluating whether newer approaches integrating chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery will improve survival. Evaluation of new agents (e.g., camptothecins, paclitaxel [and related compounds], gemcitabine, and thymydilate synthase inhibitors) alone and in combination with other agents (including platinum-related compounds) continue to be pursued. Novel approaches based on increased knowledge about biology of this disease, including high frequency of ras and p.53 mutations or expression of a number of growth factor receptors, are being studied preclinically. Approaches utilizing vaccines, gene therapy, and cytokines to enhance the immune response are being developed. Hopefully, new approaches will lead to improved treatment of this often fatal disease.