In continuation of my update on drug discovery and 5-fluorouracil
A major international trial has shown a commonly used chemotherapy drug, 5-fluorouracil, and Folinic Acid is as effective at helping prevent pancreatic cancer returning after surgery as the more expensive standard chemotherapy treatment.
The results of the Cancer Research UK- funded study mean the cheaper drug - called 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) - could be prescribed in cases when the standard chemotherapy - gemcitabine - has failed, providing an extra lifeline for patients whose cancer comes back after surgery.
They also raise hopes that a new trial currently underway, looking at combining an oral version of 5-FU with the standard treatment of gemcitabine, could lead to a more effective treatment for pancreatic cancer patients who are eligible for surgery.
The trial, called European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC)-3, is the largest of its kind and involved 159 centres in Europe, Australasia, Japan and Canada which between them recruited 1088 patients who had undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer.
One group had the standard chemotherapy treatment - gemcitabine. The second group had a cheaper widely available drug called 5-fluorouralcil (5-FU) that is commonly used in cancer treatment already.
The results mean that 5-FU should now also be considered one of the standard options for the treatment of patients with this disease.
They build on earlier trial results suggesting patients who had surgery and chemotherapy had better a chance of survival than patients who only had surgery.
Finding out these two drugs are as effective as each other at preventing pancreatic cancer returning after surgery is important. It raises hopes that a new trial currently looking at giving two similar drugs together could be successful at preventing or at least delaying pancreatic cancer returning after surgery.
"Previous trial results involving advanced pancreatic cancer patients have shown this drug combination can give precious extra months or even years of life, so there is reason to be hopeful the survival benefit could be even more marked for patients who are eligible for surgery."
Ref : http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/304/10/1073
