Background: Based on initial encouraging results of the combination of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with recombinant alpha-2a-interferon (r alpha-2a-IFN) in the treatment of advanced colorectal carcinomas, a clinical trial was conducted using 5-FU with r alpha-2a-IFN in 49 patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Methods: Forty-nine patients who had bidimensionally measurable disease and had not been treated previously with chemotherapy were entered in the trial. Starting on day 1, 5-FU was administered as a continuous infusion at a dose of 750 mg/m2/day for 5 consecutive days. Starting on day 12, it was administered as an intravenous bolus of 750 mg/m2 a week for 7 weeks. The r alpha-2a-IFN was administered subcutaneously at a dose of 9 x 10(6) units three times a week during weeks 1-8.
Results: Of the 46 patients evaluable for response, none had a complete response, and two had partial responses that lasted 14 and 28 weeks. The overall response rate was 4% (95% confidence interval, 1-15%). Fourteen patients had minor responses (median duration of response, 12 weeks). The median length of survival of all patients enrolled in this trial was 22 weeks. Grade 3-4 toxicities included oral mucositis in 19 patients, granulocytopenia in 16, fatigue in 8, and diarrhea in 3. One patient had severe ataxia and leg weakness. Another died of neutropenic sepsis.
Conclusions: This regimen had significant toxicity and little evidence of therapeutic activity against advanced pancreatic carcinoma.