title: Personalization of chemotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Erlotinib is an approved drug for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer; however, its survival benefit is small and its cost is high, and the decision to use the drug may often be personalized according to the patient's background. A 72-year-old Asian man in good general condition chose gemcitabine monotherapy over combination therapy with gemcitabine plus erlotinib because the survival benefit of the latter was small. The cost of the drug did not appear to affect this decision. This report details the process of decision making with respect to whether a patient receives targeted therapy, and suggests that the use of molecular-targeted drugs must be personalized from many perspectives, including the patient's social situation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, Yamagata University, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuriko Ito
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Sasahara
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yamagata University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Narimatsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, Yamagata University, Japan.
authors.forename: Syuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, Yamagata University, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadahisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Nakao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shirahata
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, Yamagata University, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
keywords: drug cost; molecular-targeted drug; pancreatic cancer
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