Survival benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy with oral doxifluridine (5′-DFUR) following radiotherapy in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer

✍ Scribed by Koji Tsuruta; Astutake Okamoto; Naoto Egawa; Terumi Kamisawa; Katsuyuki Karasawa; Toshio Takahashi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 126 KB
• Volume: 78
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-4790
• DOI: 10.1002/jso.1151

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Background and Objectives

The combination of 5‐fluorouracil and radiotherapy is thought to be the most effective treatment for locally unresectable pancreatic carcinoma. The outcomes, however, are far from acceptable from the viewpoint of long‐term survival. We assessed the survival benefits of oral adjuvant chemotherapy with doxifluridine (5′‐DFUR) following radiotherapy for patients with the disease.

Methods

Thirty‐five consecutive patients who underwent bypass surgery and radiotherapy for localized advanced unresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas head were retrospectively reviewed in regard to disease progression and survival. Ten of the 35 patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy with 5′‐DFUR after radiotherapy in an outpatient setting.

Results

The 1‐year survival for patients treated with radiotherapy alone was 29%. The 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐year survivals for patients treated with the adjuvant chemotherapy after radiotherapy were 50, 40, and 30%, respectively (P = 0.0069, log‐rank test). The elevation of tumor markers was delayed (P = 0.0346) and local control rate was improved (P = 0.0475) in patients with chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the adjuvant chemotherapy with 5′‐DFUR was a significant independent prognostic factor as well as tumor size.

Conclusions

The adjuvant chemotherapy with 5′‐DFUR following radiotherapy led to a significant prolongation of the survival for patients with unresectable localized pancreatic cancer. J. Surg. Oncol. 2001;78:202–207. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.