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Purpose: Gemcitabine plus nanoparticle albumin-bound (NAB) paclitaxel (GA) significantly improved survival compared with gemcitabine alone in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and a Karnofsky performance status (PS) of 70% or greater. Because of the low number of patients with reduced PS, the efficacy of this regimen in fragile patients remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of different GA dosing regimens in patients with a poor PS., Patients and Methods: In the phase I part of this study, patients were randomly assigned to one of the following four parallel GA treatment arms (six patients per arm): a biweekly schedule of NAB-paclitaxel (150 mg/m 2 [arm A] or 125 mg/m 2 [arm C]) plus gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m 2 or a standard schedule of 3 weeks on and 1 week off of NAB-paclitaxel (100 mg/m 2 [arm B] or 125 mg/m 2 [arm D]) plus gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m 2 . The two regimens with the better tolerability profile on the basis of predefined criteria were evaluated in the phase II part of the study, the primary end point of which was 6-month actuarial survival., Results: Arms B and D were selected for the phase II part of the study. A total of 221 patients (111 patients in arm B and 110 patients in arm D) were enrolled. Baseline characteristics including median age (71 and 68 years in arms B and D, respectively), sex (51% and 55% men in arms B and D, respectively), and metastatic disease (88% and 84% in arms B and D, respectively) were comparable between arms. The most frequent grade 3 or 4 toxicities in arms B and D were anemia (12% and 7%, respectively), neutropenia (32% and 30%, respectively), thrombocytopenia (7% and 11%, respectively), asthenia (14% and 16%, respectively), and neurotoxicity (11% and 16%, respectively). In arms B and D, there were no significant differences in response rate (24% and 28%, respectively), median progression-free survival (5.7 and 6.7 months, respectively), and 6-month overall survival (63% and 69%, respectively)., Conclusion: NAB-paclitaxel administered at either 100 and 125 mg/m 2 in combination with gemcitabine on days 1, 8, and 15 every 28 days is well tolerated and results in acceptable safety and efficacy in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and a poor PS.

The treatment of choice of metastatic PADC is systemic chemotherapy. In the last decade, there have been significant advances in this area. New combination poli-chemotherapy schemes have shown a significant increase in overall survival and progression-free survival without impairing quality of life. In addition, the value of second-line chemotherapy treatment has consolidated and a new concept called "therapeutic sequencing" has also emerged. The aim of this article is to review the different therapeutic options in metastatic PDAC based on patient's characteristics.

Background: Gemcitabine and erlotinib have shown a survival benefit in the first-line setting in metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC). The aim of this study was to assess whether combining capecitabine (C) with gemcitabine + erlotinib (GE) was safe and effective versus GE in patients with mPC., Patients and Methods: Previously untreated mPC patients were randomised to receive G (1000 mg/m 2 , days 1, 8, 15) + E (100 mg/day, days 1-28) + C (1660 mg/m 2 , days 1-21) or GE, q4 weeks, until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary end-point: progression-free survival (PFS); secondary end-points: overall survival (OS), response rate, relationship of rash with PFS/OS and safety., Results: 120 patients were randomised, median age 63 years, ECOG status 0/1/2 33%/58%/8%; median follow-up 16.5 months. Median PFS in the gemcitabine-erlotinib-capecitabine (GEC) and GE arms was 4.3 and 3.8 months, respectively (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.58-1.31; p = 0.52). Median OS in the GEC and GE arms was 6.8 and 7.7 months, respectively (HR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.72-1.63; p = 0.69). Grade 3/4 neutropenia (GEC 43% versus GE 15%; p = 0.0008) and mucositis (GEC 9% versus GE 0%; p = 0.03) were the only statistically significant differences in grade 3/4 adverse events. PFS and OS were significantly longer in patients with rash (grade ≥1) versus no rash (grade = 0): PFS 5.5 versus 2.0 months (HR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.26-0.6; p < 0.0001) and OS: 9.5 versus 4.0 months (HR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.33-0.77; p = 0.0014)., Conclusion: PFS with GEC was not significantly different to that with GE in patients with mPC. Skin rash strongly predicted erlotinib efficacy. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01303029., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The overall survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is extremely low. Although gemcitabine is the standard used chemotherapy for this disease, clinical outcomes do not reflect significant improvements, not even when combined with adjuvant treatments. There is an urgent need for prognosis markers to be found. The aim of this study was to analyze the potential value of serum cytokines to find a profile that can predict the clinical outcome in patients with pancreatic cancer and to establish a practical prognosis index that significantly predicts patients' outcomes. We have conducted an extensive analysis of serum prognosis biomarkers using an antibody array comprising 507 human cytokines. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate Cox's proportional hazard models were used to analyze prognosis factors. To determine the extent that survival could be predicted based on this index, we used the leave-one-out cross-validation model. The multivariate model showed a better performance and it could represent a novel panel of serum cytokines that correlates to poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer. B7-1/CD80, EG-VEGF/PK1, IL-29, NRG1-beta1/HRG1-beta1, and PD-ECGF expressions portend a poor prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer and these cytokines could represent novel therapeutic targets for this disease.