Efficacy observation of albumin-bound paclitaxel plus gemcitabine for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer

SONG Chao; FENG Yi; FAN Yue; CHEN Hong; WANG Dansong; ZHOU Yuhong; LOU Wenhui

Abstract：Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of albumin-bound paclitaxel plus gemcitabine for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer patients in Chinese. Methods From March 2012 to January 2015, 27 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer diagnosed by pathology were assigned to receive albumin-bound paclitaxel plus gemcitabine as first-line therapy. Albumin-bound paclitaxel was administered at a dose of 125 mg/m2 plus gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 on day 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. Response to chem-otherapy was assessed by RECIST criteria 1. 1 and toxicity was evaluated according to National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Crite-ria 3. 0. The clinical follow-up data from chemotherapy were investigated for comparison of median progression-free survival( PFS) and overall survival( OS) between different clinicopathologic characteristics. Results All patients were available for evaluation. None got complete response, 2 cases had partial response and 19 cases had stable disease. The response rate( RR) was 7. 4% and the disease control rate(DCR) was 77. 8%. Of the 27 patients, the median PFS was 5. 0(95%CI:4. 0-6. 7) months and the median OS was 8. 0 (95%CI:7. 5-13. 8) months. The number of chemotherapy cycles were correlated with PFS and OS in pooled treatment arm analyses. The main adverse reactions were nausea and vomiting( 48. 1%) , fatigue( 55. 5%) , fever( 7. 4%) , rash itching( 3. 7%) and peripheral nerve abnormalities( 11. 1%) . The major adverse reactions were mainly bone marrow suppression. Among them, grade 3-4 hematologic toxicity included white blood cell reduction, thrombocytopenia and hemoglobin reduction. Conclusion The combination of albumin-bound paclitaxel and gemcitabine is effective and tolerated in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer patients in Chinese.