Low dose octreotide and tamoxifen in the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.
BACKGROUND
Data from experimental studies suggest that a combination of octreotide, the long acting somatostatin analogue, octreotide, and tamoxifen improves the survival of animals with pancreatic cancer.


METHODS
Twelve patients with a tissue diagnosis of ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were treated with 100 micrograms of octreotide three times per day and tamoxifen 10 mg twice daily. The survival of the octreotide-tamoxifen group was compared with a historic cohort of 68 untreated patients with pancreatic cancer, matched for age, sex, and TNM stage.


RESULTS
The median survival times for the octreotide-tamoxifen-treated group compared with the historic cohort were 12 and 3, months respectively. Actuarial one-year survival rates for the octreotide-tamoxifen-treated group compared with the historic cohort were 59% and 16%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, patients with unresectable and resected ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas had an apparently increased survival when treated with a combination of octreotide and tamoxifen. A randomized controlled trial to examine this potential therapeutic benefit is now indicated.
Rosenberg
L
L
Pancreatic Diseases Centre, Montreal General Hospital, Canada.
Barkun
A N
AN
Denis
M H
MH
Pollak
M
M
D000206:Actuarial Analysis; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015282:Octreotide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000008:administration & dosage
D013629:Tamoxifen; D015282:Octreotide