Treatment of pancreatic carcinoma: therapeutic nihilism?

No standard treatment is available for advanced pancreatic cancer

All randomised trials, published from 1980 to 1993, of treatments in advanced and locally unresectable exocrine pancreatic carcinoma were critically reviewed to identify the most effective therapeutic strategy for use as a control arm in randomised trials for such patients. All the published randomised trials on patients with pancreatic cancer were identified, and the treatment results summarised by means of published methodological guidelines. Twenty-seven reports, including 21 on hormonal or chemotherapy and six on radio/chemotherapy were identified. Very different treatment programmes were used in the trials, without a rationale sequence for testing hypotheses. Furthermore, several methodological drawbacks undermined both the internal and the external validity of these studies. Therefore, no meta-analysis can be conducted, combining the results of the randomised controlled trials in pancreatic cancer published from 1990 to 1993; no standard treatment is currently available for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer; future studies should screen new drugs or new combinations; and an untreated control group should be included in future comparative studies until real advantages in terms of better quality of life or improved survival are demonstrated.

Radiotherapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer

In the last two decades, we have witnessed revolutionary advances in pancreatic imaging as well as increased availability of megavoltage radiotherapy equipment and sophisticated radiotherapy planning devices. Several advances in the radiotherapy of pancreatic cancer have been made for the patient with resectable disease. Postoperative radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy confers a survival advantage after 'curative' resection. Preoperative and intraoperative intraoperative radiotherapy may do the same, but this requires further evaluation. Preoperative irradiation may improve the resectability rate, but the clinical data are still very limited. For locally unresectable disease, PHD radiotherapy with adjuvant 5-FU should now be the standard treatment in suitable cases with a median survival time of about one year. High LET radiation beams have failed to produce improved survival in two prospective randomized studies. Intraoperative radiotherapy is an effective means of pain control and enhances control of local disease, but has not been shown to improve survival rate significantly. Interstitial radiotherapy also improves local control, but it is associated with a high mortality rate and an even higher major complication rate. Wide-area radiation therapy and preoperative radiotherapy both seem to show promise in this group of patients. Patients with metastatic disease should be treated palliatively on an individual basis.