Treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer: from gemcitabine single agent to combinations and targeted therapy.
The prognosis of advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma is still poor nowadays. Gemcitabine in monotherapy (30-min infusion) has been the standard of treatment during the last decade, and many clinical trials have failed to demonstrate an improvement in overall survival (OS) with the addition of different drugs to gemcitabine, including cetuximab and bevacizumab. Nevertheless, some modest but interesting advances have been provided by combinations such as gemcitabine-erlotinib, gemcitabine-capecitabine and gemcitabine plus a platinum salt. In spite of this, survival results remain disappointing. Further research focused on new combinations, incorporating the new targeted therapies and identifying potential predictive factors of response are required to be able to offer effective tailored therapies to these patients.
Rivera
Fernando
F
Medical Oncology Department, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, Cantabria, Spain. oncrhf@humv.es
López-Tarruella
Sara
S
Vega-Villegas
Ma Eugenia
ME
Salcedo
Matilde
M
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D000068818:Cetuximab; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D020714:Maximum Tolerated Dose; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D000068818:Cetuximab; D000093542:Gemcitabine