title: Advanced stage pancreatic cancer: novel therapeutic options.
abstract: Despite advances in our understanding of the molecular and genetic basis of pancreatic cancer, it continues to be a therapeutic challenge. Gemcitabine approved by FDA in 1997, offers modest improvement of tumor-related symptoms and marginal advantage of survival. Many chemotherapeutic agents have been compared against or combined with gemcitabine in randomized Phase III trials and no drug was shown to be superior to single-agent gemcitabine except FOLFIRINOX and nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine. On the other hand, efforts to integrate targeted agents such as BAY 12-9566, SCH 66336, bevacizumab, cetuximab, axitinib and sorafenib have been quite dismal despite extensive pre-clinical and clinical research over the last decade in the field of novel agents. To date, erlotinib remains the only biological agent that has demonstrated a small, but significant, added benefit to single agent gemcitabine. However, numerous new agents, including monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, are currently being tested in an attempt to achieve better response, while maintaining a safe toxicity profile. In this article, the author discusses the management of advanced pancreatic and the current role of novel agents in this setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Cancer Center, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, 800 Washington Street, Box 245, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors.forename: Muhammad Wasif
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Saif
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: carcinoma; drug therapy; gemcitabine; neoplasm metastasis; pancreas; pancreatic neoplasms; therapeutics