ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
The evaluation of efficacy and tolerability of gemcitabine vs. capecitabine therapy in the second-line setting for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with poor performance status
Received Date : 26 Apr 2019
Accepted Date : 24 Aug 2019
Available Online : 30 Aug 2019
Abdullah Sakin a, Suleyman Sahin b, Muhammed Mustafa Atci c, Cumhur Demir c, Nurgul Yasar c, Caglayan Geredeli c, Sener Cihan c
a Department of Medical Oncology, Yuzuncu Yil University Medical School, 65030, Van, Turkey
b Department of Medical Oncology, University of Health Sciences, Van Research and Training Hospital, Van, Turkey
c Department of Medical Oncology, University of Health Sciences, Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital, 34384, Istanbul, Turkey
Doi: 10.1016/j.jons.2019.08.003 - Article's Language: EN
J Oncol Sci 5 (2019) 85-89
ABSTRACT
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of single-agent gemcitabine vs.
capecitabine therapy in the second-line setting for metastatic Pancreatic Cancer (mPC) patients with
poor performance status.
Material and methods: A total of 48 patients with mPC, who were followed and treated in oncology
center between 2012 and 2017, were included. After a failure of first-line therapy, patients with an ECOGPS
2 treated with capecitabine or gemcitabine monotherapy in the secondline setting were retrospectively
analyzed.
Results: Of the 48 patients, 26(54.2%) were males and 22(45.8%) were females. The median age of the
patients was 62 years(range, 31-82). Treatment regimens in the first-line setting were as follows;
gemcitabine+cisplatin in 24(50%) patients, gemcitabine+nub-paclitaxel in 4(8.3%) patients, FOLFIRINOX
in 8(16.7%) patients, FOLFOX in 8(16.7%) patients, and gemcitabine+oxaliplatine in 4(8.3%) patients. After
progression on first-line therapy, 29(60.5%) patients were treated with capecitabine in the second-line
setting, while 19(39.5%) patients were given gemcitabine. Median progression-free survival was found to
be 4 months(95% CI,1.9-6.0) in patients receiving capecitabine compared to 2 months(95% CI, 0.5-3.4) in
those treated with gemcitabine (p¼0.271). Median overall survival was 6.0 months(95% CI, 2.0-9.9) in
patients receiving capecitabine therapy versus 5.0 months (95% CI, 1.0-8.9) in those treated with gemcitabine
monotherapy (p¼0.353).
Conclusions: Optimal second-line treatment for mPC has not yet been established. In the present study,
capecitabine monotherapy was compared to gemcitabine and it was found that they both had similar
efficacy in the second-line treatment for mPC patients who were not eligible for combination chemotherapy
regimen.
Keywords: Metastatic pancreatic cancer; Gemcitabine; Capecitabine; Comparison; Survival
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