Biweekly gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel as first-line treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Background/Aim: During recent years, a survival advantage was reported for first-line treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer with two new regimens, FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel, over gemcitabine monotherapy. Gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel administration on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 4-week cycle is associated with some practical disadvantages. We adopted a biweekly regimen with the same dose density. Patients and Methods: Patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-2 diagnosed with advanced histologically or cytologically confirmed pancreatic cancer and no prior treatment were included in the study. Study combination included 1.5 g/m2 gemcitabine and 175 mg/m2 nab-paclitaxel given every 2 weeks. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method. Results: Forty-six patients were treated with this regimen. Adverse events were similar to those of the original regimen. Median progression-free and overall survival were 5 and 10 months, respectively. Conclusion: Biweekly gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel seems to have a similar safety and efficacy profile as the original regimen.