title: [Survey of gemcitabine treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer in 20 hospitals of Nagano Prefecture].
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Gastroenterology, National Sanatorium Chushin Matsumoto Hospital.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maejima
authors.forename: Nobumichi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hasebe
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanazaki
authors.forename: Shouji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kajikawa
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mukawa
authors.forename: Kouichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hosokawa
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hisa
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tajiri
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.forename: Gengo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Yasuhide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ochi
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shikama
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawa
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyagawa
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Kendo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiyosawa
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000093542:Gemcitabine