Drug Boosts Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rate

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/27859160/detail.html

(CNN) -- Researchers comparing pancreatic cancer treatments found notable differences in patient survival rates and quality of life.

French investigators from a private company known as BioMed randomly selected 342 patients with pancreatic cancer. Part of the group was given gemcitabine, the most favored treatment according to oncologists. The other patients were given a combination of four chemotherapy drugs, (oxaliplatin, irinotecan, fluorouracil and leucovorin) known as FOLFIRINOX. The treatments lasted for six months. The purpose of the study was to record the overall survival rates of each group.

Researchers found that even though people on the FOLFIRINOX had a longer average survival rate of 11.1 months, versus the gemcitabine group with 6.8 months, the quality of life for patients on FOLFIRINOX was not as good. At least 5% of patients on the drug combination suffered from low white blood cell counts, fatigue, serious diarrhea, a loss of feeling in their feet and hands, as well as hair loss. After six months, only 31% of patients on FOLFIRINOX reported a decent quality of life, compared with 66% of those on gemcitabine.

Investigators concluded that although the FOLFIRINOX did improve survival rates over gemcitabine, the toxicity of the drug combination caused numerous negative side effects. Therefore investigators recommended that only patients who are younger than 76 years old, and who do not suffer from other health problems use FOLFIRINOX.



Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. For most patients, the prognosis is grim. Only about 6 percent of those with the diagnosis live longer than five years.



The study is published in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. It was funded by the government of France.