Novel advances in pancreatic cancer treatment.
Little progress has been made on the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. Gemcitabine has been an acceptable standard for more than a decade. The benefit of single-agent gemcitabine in advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer is small. Adding other chemotherapy agents to gemcitabine has not resulted in meaningful improvement in survival. The randomized trials studying the addition of molecular targeting agents (cetuximab, bevacizumab, farnesyl transferase inhibitors and metalloproteinase inhibitors) to gemcitabine compared with gemcitabine alone have been disappointing. A small gain in median survival by adding erlotinib to gemcitabine has recently been reported. We herein review novel agents in pancreatic cancer that may change the current nihilistic approach in the management of this challenging disease.
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center/University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA. mvulfovich@med.miami.edu
Michel
M
Vulfovich
Caio
C
Rocha-Lima
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D011799:Quinazolines; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride; D000093542:Gemcitabine