Combination Chemotherapy, and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title: A Phase II Study Of Neo-Adjuvant Chemotherapy And Radiation In Patients With Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Giving combination chemotherapy with radiation therapy before surgery may shrink the tumor so that it can be removed.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving combination chemotherapy together with radiation therapy works in treating patients who may undergo surgery for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Clinical Trial Description

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the antitumor and clinical benefit response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy comprising gemcitabine, fluorouracil, leucovorin calcium, and oxaliplatin in patients with potentially resectable locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

• Determine the toxic effects of this regimen in these patients.

• Determine the achieved steady-state plasma levels of gemcitabine and fluorouracil in these patients and correlate these plasma levels with clinical toxicity associated with this regimen.

• Determine the potential importance of polymorphic variations in genomic DNA of pertinent genes (whose protein products are targets of the antineoplastic drugs used in this study) on response to and toxicity of this regimen in these patients.

• Determine the gene expression profiles of primary and metastatic pancreatic tumors before and after treatment with this regimen.

OUTLINE:

• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Patients receive gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes and fluorouracil IV continuously over 24 hours on days 2 and 9, and leucovorin calcium orally on days 1 and 8 and IV on days 2 and 9. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

• Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy: Beginning on day 42, patients undergo chemoradiotherapy comprising oxaliplatin IV over 2 hours on days 42, 49, 56, 63, 70, and 77 and fluorouracil IV continuously on days 42-78 with external beam radiotherapy.

• Surgery: Patients undergo surgical resection 42-56 days after completion of chemoradiotherapy.

• Adjuvant chemotherapy: After post-operative recovery, patients receive 2 additional courses of gemcitabine, fluorouracil, and leucovorin calcium. If surgical resection is not possible, patients with stable or responsive disease resume gemcitabine, fluorouracil, and leucovorin calcium indefinitely in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients are followed every 3 months.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 50 patients will be accrued for this study. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Pancreatic Cancer
• Pancreatic Neoplasms

• NCT number: NCT00089024
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Nebraska
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: February 25, 2004
• Completion date: December 1, 2014