title: Management of advanced pancreatic cancer with gemcitabine plus erlotinib: efficacy and safety results in clinical practice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The combination of gemcitabine and erlotinib is a standard first-line treatment for unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. We reviewed our single centre experience to assess its efficacy and toxicity in clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical records of patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer who were treated with the combination of gemcitabine and erlotinib were reviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Univariate survival analysis and multivariate analysis were carried out to indentify independent predictors factors of overall survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our series included 55 patients. Overall disease control rate was 47%: 5% of patients presented complete response, 20% partial response and 22% stable disease. Median overall survival was 8.3 months). Cox regression analysis indicated that performance status and locally advanced versus metastatic disease were independent factors of overall survival. Patients who developed acne-like rash toxicity, related to erlotinib administration, presented a higher survival than those patients who did not develop this toxicity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gemcitabine plus erlotinib doublet is active in our series of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. This study provides efficacy and safety results similar to those of the pivotal phase III clinical trial that tested the same combination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital La Fe. Valencia, Spain. diaz_rob@gva.es.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Diaz Beveridge
authors.forename: Vicent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alcolea
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aparicio
authors.forename: Ángel
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Segura
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corbellas
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fonfría
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giménez
authors.forename: Joaquin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montalar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D003875:Drug Eruptions / Q000209:etiology; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000077150:Oxaliplatin; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
chemical_list: D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds; D011799:Quinazolines; D000077150:Oxaliplatin; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride; D000093542:Gemcitabine