Recentl
y, novel chemotherapeutic agents like nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine demonstrated a survival benefit over gemcitabine alone in metastatic pancreatic cancer. However, there are limited clinical results using this chemotherap
y in potentiall
y resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Our aim is to report the oncological results of patients affected b
y potentiall
y resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma that underwent surger
y after a combination of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel.
Methods
A total of 25 patients have been included. We evaluated: (1) Drug toxicity; (2) tumoral response (tumoral size at CT scan, SUV of FDG PET-CT scan and CA 19.9; (3) resection rate; (4) R0 resection rate and histopathological response and (5) survival and disease free survival.
Results
Overall treatment was well tolerated. Treatment resulted in a statistical decrease of CA19-9 (p = 0.019) tumoral size (p = 0.04) and SUV (p = 0.004). The resection rate was 68% (17/25 patients). All specimens were R0 and 13 of 17 specimens had major pathological regressions (complete and important response). Median survival and medial disease free survival of patients that underwent surgery was 21 months and 19 months, respectively at a mean follow up of 38.5 months.
Conclusions
This data suggests that nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine is a safe and effective neoadjuvant treatment for potentially resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. This promising data should be confirmed in larger, randomized studies.
