title: Making sense of current and emerging therapies in pancreatic cancer: balancing benefit and value.
abstract: Pancreatic cancer remains the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States with a dismal prognosis and a 5-year survival of less than 5% across all stages.(1) In 2014, there were approximately 46,420 new cases of pancreatic cancer with only 9% of patients having localized disease.(2) Given that the vast majority of patients present with advanced disease, much of the focus for drug development has been in the metastatic setting, which is evident with the advent of two combination chemotherapy regimens for this indication. Although conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the standard of care, an ongoing search for novel therapeutic approaches continues. We will highlight several new approaches here, with a particular emphasis on immunotherapeutic strategies. We will also introduce concepts regarding the potential economic effects associated with the development and implementation of new treatments in pancreatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: From the The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH; UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Daniel H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: From the The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH; UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Andrew H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: From the The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH; UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Neal J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Meropol
authors.affiliation: From the The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH; UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Tanios S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Bekaii-Saab
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic