Results showed that 50% of tumors shrank by at least a third, including complete disappearance of a tumor in a patient who previously had been judged inoperable. No tumors progressed during treatment.
The ability to shrink a pancreatic tumor is important because in order to eradicate the cancer, the tumor must be small enough to be completely removed without damaging major blood vessels surrounding the pancreas. Seventeen patients in the study underwent surgery, including nine previously considered inoperable or borderline operable. Subsequent follow-up showed that no patient whose tumor was surgically removed had a local recurrence of the disease, and no patient whose disease was considered inoperable had local progression.
Because the treatment Pipas and his team developed is allowing more patients the option of surgery, it is now the standard treatment for pancreatic cancer at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
In a new study, Pipas is using gemcitabine and radiation in combination with cetuximab (Erbitux), an antibody treatment. Norris Cotton Cancer Center is the only center testing this treatment for pancreatic cancer.
"Our goal for therapy is more people to complete resection," explains Pipas. "That's going to be the first step to curing patients."
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Contact: Jane D'Antonio
jane.d'antonio@hitchcock.org
603-653-1997
Dartmouth Medical School
6-Dec-2005