Gemcitabine combined with gefitinib in patients with inoperable or metastatic pancreatic cancer: a phase II Study of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group with biomarker evaluation

George Fountzilas; Mattheos Bobos; Anna Kalogera-Fountzila; Nikolaos Xiros; Samuel Murray; Helena Linardou; Georgia Karayannopoulou; Angelos K Koutras; Dimitrios Bafaloukos; Epaminondas Samantas; Christos Christodoulou; Theofanis Economopoulos; Konstantine T Kalogeras; Paris Kosmidis

doi:10.1080/07357900801918611

Gemcitabine combined with gefitinib in patients with inoperable or metastatic pancreatic cancer: a phase II Study of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group with biomarker evaluation

Cancer Invest. 2008 Oct;26(8):784-93. doi: 10.1080/07357900801918611.

Authors

George Fountzilas¹, Mattheos Bobos, Anna Kalogera-Fountzila, Nikolaos Xiros, Samuel Murray, Helena Linardou, Georgia Karayannopoulou, Angelos K Koutras, Dimitrios Bafaloukos, Epaminondas Samantas, Christos Christodoulou, Theofanis Economopoulos, Konstantine T Kalogeras, Paris Kosmidis

Affiliation

¹ Department of Medical Oncology, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Medicine, Thessaloniki, Greece. [email protected]

PMID: 18798073
DOI: 10.1080/07357900801918611

Abstract

The combination of gemcitabine and gefitinib was evaluated in advanced pancreatic cancer. Totally, 53 patients were treated with a 7 week cycle of gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m(2) given weekly) followed by six 4 week cycles of gemcitabine given on days 1, 8 and 15. Gefitinib 250 mg was administered daily. Responses were seen in 6, and stabilization of the disease in 12 patients. The main toxicity was myelotoxicity (92%). The 6-month progression-free survival (PFS) was 30%. Median PFS was 4.1 months and median survival 7.3 months with a 1 year survival rate of 27%. The above combination demonstrated promising activity in advanced pancreatic cancer.

Publication types

Clinical Trial, Phase II
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy*
Adenocarcinoma / genetics
Adenocarcinoma / mortality
Adenocarcinoma / secondary
Adenocarcinoma / surgery
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / administration & dosage
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
Biomarkers, Tumor / analysis*
Bone Marrow Diseases / chemically induced
Combined Modality Therapy
Deoxycytidine / administration & dosage
Deoxycytidine / analogs & derivatives
Disease-Free Survival
ErbB Receptors / analysis
Female
Gefitinib
Gemcitabine
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
Genes, erbB-1
Genes, erbB-2
Genes, ras
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
PTEN Phosphohydrolase / analysis
PTEN Phosphohydrolase / genetics
Pancreatic Neoplasms / drug therapy*
Pancreatic Neoplasms / genetics
Pancreatic Neoplasms / mortality
Pancreatic Neoplasms / surgery
Proto-Oncogene Proteins / analysis
Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)
Quinazolines / administration & dosage
Receptor, ErbB-2 / analysis
Survival Analysis
ras Proteins / analysis

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor
KRAS protein, human
Proto-Oncogene Proteins
Quinazolines
Deoxycytidine
EGFR protein, human
ERBB2 protein, human
ErbB Receptors
Receptor, ErbB-2
PTEN Phosphohydrolase
PTEN protein, human
Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)
ras Proteins
Gefitinib
Gemcitabine