[Survey of gemcitabine treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer in 20 hospitals of Nagano Prefecture].
To establish an effective therapy for pancreatic cancer, we made a retrospective survey of gemcitabine treatment performed at 20 hospitals in Nagano Prefecture. We analyzed data of 106 patients (64 men and 42 women, median age 66 years (33-83 years old)), half of whom had stage IV disease. Gemcitabine was administered for 3 consecutive weeks with one week rest in 57 patients, biweekly in 30 patients, initially for 3 weeks with 1 week rest and switched to biweekly schedule to 15 patients, and with another regimen to 4 patients. Analysis of the results of gemcitabine treatment between the 3 weeks with 1-week-rest regimen and the biweekly regimen revealed no differences between regimens in growth inhibition and symptom alleviation. However, we found less occurrence of blood toxicity in the biweekly regimen (40%) than in the 3 weeks with 1 week-rest regimen (59%). Median survival time for the biweekly regime was 9.7 months, only slightly longer than that of the 3 weeks with 1-week-rest regimen (8.5 months). The present study showed that a biweekly regimen for gemcitabine administration may be equivalent to the standard regime of 3 weeks with 1-week-rest regimen. Moreover, the biweekly regimen has advantages over the 3 weeks with 1-week rest regimen both economically and in terms of convenience for outpatient treatment. Therefore, the present results should be confirmed in future prospective studies, with the hope of developing a new standard treatment regimen for pancreatic cancer.
Maejima
Shinya
S
Dept of Gastroenterology, National Sanatorium Chushin Matsumoto Hospital.
Takeuchi
Nobumichi
N
Hasebe
Osamu
O
Matsuda
Yoshiaki
Y
Hanazaki
Kazuhiro
K
Kajikawa
Shouji
S
Mukawa
Kenji
K
Hosokawa
Kouichi
K
Hayashi
Ken
K
Hisa
Takeshi
T
Furuta
Kiyoshi
K
Tajiri
Kazuo
K
Fujimori
Yoshiro
Y
Kaneko
Gengo
G
Ochi
Yasuhide
Y
Shikama
Naoto
N
Kawa
Shigeyuki
S
Miyagawa
Shinichi
S
Miwa
Shiro
S
Kiyosawa
Kendo
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000093542:Gemcitabine