ANOTHER FAILURE OF COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY FOR PANCREATIC CANCER

J Clin Oncol. 2009 Jul 6. [Epub ahead of print]

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Phase III, Randomized Study of Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin Versus Gemcitabine (fixed-dose rate infusion) Compared With Gemcitabine (30-minute infusion) in Patients With Pancreatic Carcinoma E6201: A Trial of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

Poplin E, Feng Y, Berlin J, Rothenberg ML, Hochster H, Mitchell E, Alberts S, O'Dwyer P, Haller D, Catalano P, Cella D, Benson AB 3rd.

Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Brunswick, NJ; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA; Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; Pfizer; New York University Cancer Institute, New York, NY; Thomas Jefferson University; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.

PURPOSE: Single-agent gemcitabine (GEM) is standard treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer. Fixed-dose rate (FDR) GEM and GEM plus oxaliplatin have shown promise in early clinical trials. E6201 was designed to compare overall survival (OS) of standard weekly GEM 1,000 mg/m(2)/30 minutes versus GEM FDR 1,500 mg/m(2)/150 minutes or GEM 1,000 mg/m(2)/100 minutes/day 1 plus oxaliplatin 100 mg/m(2)/day 2 every 14 days (GEMOX). METHODS: This trial included patients with metastatic or locally advanced pancreatic cancer, normal organ function, and performance status of 0 to 2. The study was designed to detect a 33% difference in median survival (hazard ratio [HR]