title: Pancreatic cancer treatment and research: an international expert panel discussion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pancreatic cancer has proven extremely challenging to treat. A collaborative effort is needed to advance research and improve treatment. An expert conference was conducted to elicit perspectives regarding the current treatment and future research of pancreatic cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The conference comprised an international panel of experts representing five European countries and the United States.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adjuvant radiotherapy is used more frequently in the United States than in Europe. In locally advanced disease, there is now more emphasis on early chemotherapy in both Europe and the United States. In metastatic disease, combination chemotherapy is commonly used in Europe and the United States. This varies by country. Advancing pancreatic research will require improving biorepositories and developing a roadmap to prioritize therapeutic targets in different models. Small randomized phase II trials of both non-selected and enriched patient populations will help identify activity of new agents. Phase III trials should only be initiated in appropriate patients based on strong clinical and biological signals. Developing drugs in the adjuvant setting may be preferable to eliminate some of the challenges of drug development in the advanced disease setting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Progress in research combined with encouraging improvements from the past offer hope for the future of pancreatic cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco. Electronic address: mtempero@medicine.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tempero
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ducreux
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, Philadelphia, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haller
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, London Oncology Clinic, London, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khayat
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine IV, Hematology & Oncology, Univesitätsklinikum, Halle, Germany.
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Schmoll
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Ospedale S. Martino, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sobrero
authors.affiliation: Division of Digestive Oncology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Cutsem
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D035843:Biomedical Research; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents