[Contribution of gemcitabine in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer].
BACKGROUND
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most common tumor of the gastrointestinal tract.


BACKGROUND
Because this malignancy is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, its prognosis is poor, and patients are generally considered incurable at diagnosis. The traditional palliative approach to management of this tumor is chemotherapy. The most widely used agent is 5-FU, alone or in combination. Benefits of the treatment are still poor: the overall survival time rarely exceeds 5 months, and no study has shown a response rate greater than 20%.


CONCLUSIONS
Gemcitabine, a new antinucleoside agent, has led to promising results, as several phase II and III studies have demonstrated an increase in survival as compared with 5-FU, the overall 1-year survival rates being 18% and 2%, respectively (p < 0.002). Furthermore, even if only discrete results in terms of objective response rate have been achieved, gemcitabine decreases disease-related symptoms, thus benefiting to the patient's quality of life. The concept of clinical benefit therefore appears to be an important judgement criteria in the assessment of chemotherapy efficacy, and will certainly be extended to other malignant neoplasms.
Brunet
R
R
Institut Bergonié, Bordeaux, France.
Fonck
M
M
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010166:Palliative Care; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D005472:Fluorouracil; D000093542:Gemcitabine