 
Study Seeks Treatment
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There will be a projected 28,300 people diagnosed this year. Of those, only 300 will survive. Most will die within five-to-six months of diagnosis. Unlike many other types of cancer, very little progress has been made in the prevention or treatment of pancreatic cancer.
But researchers at the School of Medicine have hope for an approach to treating advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer that will combine a new therapy with the current standard of treatment.
The current treatment for pancreatic cancer is the commonly used chemotherapy drug Gemcitabine. A new drug, developed by Eli Lilly and Co., called Multi-Targeted Antifolate (MTA), will be used along with gemcitabine to see whether the combination can help patients.
"We have seen in early studies with these two drugs that there is some response to pancreatic cancer," said John L. Visconti, D.O., assistant professor of medicine in the division of hematology and oncology. "We hope to prolong a patient's short-term survival or maybe hit a home run and find a long-term survival drug combination."
This is a Phase II study. Researchers will document the response to these drugs by examining tumor shrinkage, and they will look at survival data. "We hope this combination of drugs will improve upon the current standard of care, which is gemcitabine alone," Visconti said.
The study will recruit 42 patients nationwide. Seven of those will come to Saint Louis University Hospital for treatment. The drug manufacturer Eli Lilly and Co. chose the School of Medicine due to the high volume of cancer patients who come through its doors.
All participants in this study will receive the drug combination. There will be no randomization. Participants must have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that is advanced or has spread within the body. They will receive their first dose of gemcitabine chemotherapy in week one, and then another dose a week later combined with the MTA.
Patients will receive the combination therapy every 21 days. This cycle will be repeated until there is evidence that the disease is still growing, unacceptable toxicity, or the researcher feels that it is not in the patient's best interest to continue. The participant may also decide to discontinue at any time.
A Phase I study already has determined the dosing amount tolerable to most patients without serious side effects. This Phase II study will continue to monitor toxicity in patients as well as scientifically show a good response rate.
"We were encouraged by the Phase I study," Visconti said. "If this study does well, then we'll move to a final Phase III study before it could become the new standard treatment. We are hopeful. I'm always excited about anything new with pancreatic cancer."
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