A phase I/II study of combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and 5-fluorouracil for advanced pancreatic cancer

Evaluation of Phase II Trial Design in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated how well phase II trials in locally advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer (LAMPC) meet current recommendations for trial design.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review of phase II first-line treatment trial for LAMPC. We assessed baseline characteristics, type of comparison, and primary end point to examine adherence to the National Cancer Institute recommendations for trial design.

RESULTS

We identified 148 studies (180 treatment arms, 7505 participants). Forty-seven (32%) studies adhered to none of the 5 evaluated National Cancer Institute recommendations, 62 (42%) followed 1, 31 (21%) followed 2, and 8 (5%) followed 3 recommendations. Studies varied with respect to the proportion of patients with good performance status (range, 0%-80%) and locally advanced disease (range, 14%-100%). Eighty-two (55%) studies concluded that investigational agents should progress to phase III testing; of these, 24 (16%) had documented phase III trials. Three (8%) phase III trials demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements for investigational agents. One of 38 phase II trials that investigated biological investigational agents was enriched for a biomarker.

CONCLUSIONS

Phase II trials do not conform well to current recommendations for trial design in LAMPC.

Meta‑analysis of current chemotherapy regimens in advanced pancreatic cancer to prolong survival and reduce treatment‑associated toxicities

Unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) is a highly lethal malignancy. Although numerous chemotherapeutic regimens are available, evidence regarding the survival extension, the life quality improvement, the associated risks and occurrence rates of adverse effects, is required. The effects of 19 chemotherapy regimens on survival and treatment‑associated toxicities in the context of APC treatment were comparatively assessed. A total of 23 randomized controlled trials were included in this network meta‑analysis. For overall survival, five regimens, Gemcitabine (Gem)+radiotherapy (Radio), Gem+cisplatin (Cis), Gem+erlotinib (Erl)+bevacizumab (Bev), Gem+capecitabine (Cap)+Erl, and Gem+exatecan, were the most effective treatments, according to their respective high surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) probabilities. Regarding the progression‑free survival, five regimens, including Gem+Radio, Gem+Erl+Bev, Gem+Cis, Gem+Cap+Erl and Gem+pemetrexed, were the most effective treatments based on their SUCRA probabilities. Each regimen exhibited advantages and disadvantages, and 14 common treatment‑associated toxicities were present in different proportions. The three principal toxic effects included haematological, gastrointestinal and constitutional symptoms. To improve survival, chemotherapy regimens with high SUCRA probabilities require prioritizing. Although treatment‑associated toxicities are unavoidable, the regimens presented toxicities in distinct proportions. Therefore, clinicians should assess the disease status of the patients, and balance the benefits and risks of the selected treatment.

Long-term outcome of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer treated with sequential chemotherapies before the era of modern combination therapy protocols

INTRODUCTION

Patients (pts) with locally advanced (LAPC) or metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) have a dismal prognosis. Recently, new combination chemotherapies such as FOLFIRINOX and nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine have demonstrated superiority over gemcitabine monotherapy. However, a substantial proportion of pts cannot tolerate these intensive front-line protocols. Moreover, the long-term superiority of multiagent protocols over less intensive strategies remains to be shown. To provide a benchmark for future studies, we analyzed the outcome of patients with LAPC or mPDAC treated at the West German Cancer Center before the FOLFIRINOX/nab-paclitaxel + gemcitabine era.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis included 201 consecutive pts with LAPC and mPDAC treated between 2007 and 2011. Efficacy parameters were correlated with type of chemotherapy, number of treatment lines and clinicopathological parameters.

RESULTS

Gemcitabine monotherapy was given as first-line therapy in 51.1%, whereas 48.9% received combination chemotherapies such as gemcitabine/oxaliplatin or FOLFOX. Patients received a median of two lines of treatment, with 54.8% receiving second-line and 37.9% receiving third- and further-line therapies. There was no significant difference between gemcitabine monotherapy and combination therapies. Despite moderate activity of first-line treatment, median overall survival for LAPC was 11.3 months and 8.7 months for mPDAC. Multivariate analysis identified age and number of treatment lines as prognostic markers.

CONCLUSION

The long-term outcome of unselected pts with LAPC and mPDAC treated before the introduction of aggressive multiagent chemotherapy protocols compares favorably with the results of contemporary benchmark trials. This suggests a multifactorial benefit from interdisciplinary care provided over sequential treatment lines at high volume expert centers.

Changes in the expression of serum markers CA242, CA199, CA125, CEA, TNF-α and TSGF after cryosurgery in pancreatic cancer patients

The presence of serum tumor markers, carbohydrate antigen 242 (CA242), carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), tumor-supplied group of factors (TSGF) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), is closely associated with invasion and metastasis of many malignancies. The expression of these markers were measured in serum taken from 37 pancreatic cancer patients prior to treatment. Levels of CA242, CA199, CA125, CEA and TNF-α expression correlated with tumor size, clinical stage, tumor differentiation, lymph node and liver metastasis (P < 0.05). One month after cryosurgery, serum levels of these markers were significantly reduced compared with levels prior to cryosurgery (P < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference was found between serum levels before and after chemotherapy (P > 0.05). Thus, cryosurgery is more effective than chemotherapy for decreasing CA242, CA199, CA125, CEA, TSGF and TNF-α serum levels in these patients.

Systemic 5-fluorouracil treatment causes a syndrome of delayed myelin destruction in the central nervous system

BACKGROUND

Cancer treatment with a variety of chemotherapeutic agents often is associated with delayed adverse neurological consequences. Despite their clinical importance, almost nothing is known about the basis for such effects. It is not even known whether the occurrence of delayed adverse effects requires exposure to multiple chemotherapeutic agents, the presence of both chemotherapeutic agents and the body's own response to cancer, prolonged damage to the blood-brain barrier, inflammation or other such changes. Nor are there any animal models that could enable the study of this important problem.

RESULTS

We found that clinically relevant concentrations of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; a widely used chemotherapeutic agent) were toxic for both central nervous system (CNS) progenitor cells and non-dividing oligodendrocytes in vitro and in vivo. Short-term systemic administration of 5-FU caused both acute CNS damage and a syndrome of progressively worsening delayed damage to myelinated tracts of the CNS associated with altered transcriptional regulation in oligodendrocytes and extensive myelin pathology. Functional analysis also provided the first demonstration of delayed effects of chemotherapy on the latency of impulse conduction in the auditory system, offering the possibility of non-invasive analysis of myelin damage associated with cancer treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Our studies demonstrate that systemic treatment with a single chemotherapeutic agent, 5-FU, is sufficient to cause a syndrome of delayed CNS damage and provide the first animal model of delayed damage to white-matter tracts of individuals treated with systemic chemotherapy. Unlike that caused by local irradiation, the degeneration caused by 5-FU treatment did not correlate with either chronic inflammation or extensive vascular damage and appears to represent a new class of delayed degenerative damage in the CNS.

A pilot study on combination of cryosurgery and 125iodine seed implantation for treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer

AIM: To study the therapeutic value of combination of cryosurgery and ¹²⁵iodine seed implantation for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

METHODS: Forty-nine patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (males 36, females 13), with a median age of 59 years, were enrolled in the study. Twelve patients had liver metastases. In all cases the tumors were considered unresectable after a comprehensive evaluation. Patients were treated with cryosurgery, which was performed intraoperatively or percutaneously under guidance of ultrasound and/or computed tomography (CT), and ¹²⁵iodine seed implantation, which was performed during cryosurgery or post-cryosurgery under guidance of ultrasound and/or CT. A few patients received regional celiac artery chemotherapy.

RESULTS: Thirteen patients received intraoperative cryosurgery and 36 received percutaneous cryosurgery. Some patients underwent repeat cryosurgery. ¹²⁵Iodine seed implantation was performed during freezing procedure in 35 patients and 3-9 d after cryosurgery in 14 cases. Twenty patients, 10 of whom had hepatic metastases received regional chemotherapy. At 3 mo after therapy, CT was repeated to estimate tumor response to therapy. Most patients showed varying degrees of tumor necrosis. Complete response (CR) of tumor was seen in 20.4% patients, partial response (PR), in 38.8%, stable disease (SD), in 30.6%, and progressive disease (PD), in 10.2%. Adverse effects associated with cryosurgery included upper abdomen pain and increased serum amylase. Acute pancreatitis was seen in 6 patients one of whom developed severe pancreatitis. All adverse effects were controlled by medical management with no poor outcome. There was no therapy-related mortality. During a median follow-up of 18 mo (range of 5-40), the median survival was 16.2 mo, with 26 patients (53.1%) surviving for 12 mo or more. Overall, the 6-, 12-, 24- and 36-mo survival rates were 94.9%, 63.1%, 22.8% and 9.5%, respectively. Eight patients had survival of 24 mo or more. The patient with the longest survival (40 mo) is still living without evidence of tumor recurrence.

CONCLUSION: Cryosurgery, which is far less invasive than conventional pancreatic resection, and is associated with a low rate of adverse effects, should be the treatment of choice for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. ¹²⁵Iodine seed implantation can destroy the residual surviving cancer cells after cryosurgery. Hence, a combination of both modalities has a complementary effect.

Cryosurgery with combination of (125)iodine seed implantation for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer

OBJECTIVE

To study the therapeutic value of cryosurgery with combination of (125)iodine seed implantation for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

METHODS

Thirty-eight patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer were enrolled in this study. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathology in 31 patients. Ten patients had metastases of the peripancreatic lymph node and eight had liver metastases. The therapy included cryosurgery, which was performed intra-operatively or percutaneously under guidance of ultrasound and/or computed tomography (CT), and (125)iodine seed implantation, which was performed during cryosurgery process or post-cryosurgery under the guidance of ultrasound and/or CT.

RESULTS

Eleven patients received intra-operative cryosurgery and 27 received percutaneous cryosurgery. Fourteen patients underwent two procedures of cryosurgery and three underwent three procedures of cryosurgery. (125)Iodine seed implantation was performed during the freezing procedure in 29 patients and within 3-7 days after cryosurgery in nine patients under ultrasound and CT guidance. Fifteen patients, of whom 13 had metastases of peripancreatic lymph nodes or liver received regional chemotherapy. At 3 months after therapy, a CT follow-up was performed to estimate the tumor response to therapy. Most of the patients had varying degrees of tumor necrosis. A complete response of the tumor was seen in 23.6% of patients, a partial response in 42.1%, stable disease in 26.3% and progressive disease in 7.9%. The adverse effects associated with cryosurgery mainly included pain of the upper abdomen and increased serum amylase activity. Acute pancreatitis was seen in five patients, one of whom presented a severe type of pancreatitis. During the followed-up of a median of 16 months (range of 5-37) median overall survival was 12 months, 19 patients (50.0%) survived for 12 months or longer and four survived for 24 months or longer.

CONCLUSION

As it is far less invasive than conventional pancreas resection and entails a low rate of adverse effects, cryosurgery should be the choice modality for most patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. (125)Iodine seed implantation can destroy residue survival cancer cells after cryosurgery. Hence, combination of both modalities has a complementary effect.

p14ARF upregulation of p53 and enhanced effects of 5-fluorouracil in pancreatic cancer

Gemcitabine is a chemotherapeutic that is widely used for the treatment of a variety of haematological malignancies and has become the standard chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. Combinational gemcitabine regimes (e.g.with doxorubicin) are being tested in clinical trials to treat a variety of cancers, including colon cancer. The limited success of these trials has prompted us to pursue a better understanding of gemcitabine's mechanism of cell killing, which could dramatically improve the therapeutic potential of this agent. For comparison, we included gamma irradiation that triggers robust cell cycle arrest and Cr(VI), which is a highly toxic chemical that induces a robust p53-dependent apoptotic response. Gemcitabine induced a potent p53-dependent apoptosis that correlated with the accumulation of pro-apoptotic proteins such as PUMA and Bax. This is accompanied by a drastic reduction in p2l and 14-3-3σ protein levels, thereby significantly sensitizing the cells to apoptosis. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that gemcitabine required PUMA transcription to instigate an apoptotic programme. This was in contrast to Cr(VI)-induced apoptosis that required Bax and was independent of transcription. An examination of clinical colon and pancreatic cancer tissues shows higher p53, p21, 14-3-3σ and Bax expression compared with matched normal tissues, yet there is a near absence of PUMA protein. This may explain why gemcitabine shows only limited efficacy in the treatment of these cancers. Our results raise the possibility that targeting the Bax-dependent cell death pathway, rather than the PUMA pathway, could result in significantly improved patient outcome and prognosis for these cancers.