TITLE:
Prolonged Infusion of Low Dose Gemcitabine in Advanced Pancreatic Carcinoma
AUTHORS:
Elsayed Mostafa Ali, Ahmed M. Maklad, Salah M. Khallaf
KEYWORDS:
Gemcitabine, Pancreatic Cancer, Intravenous Infusion, Low-Dose
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.11 No.7,
July
16,
2020
ABSTRACT: Background: Gemcitabine was established as a monotherapy or in combination for
locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma. Aim: This study
aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the low-dose gemcitabine over 6-hour infusion
in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Methods: 26 patients
with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma were recruited into
the study from December 2013 to October 2014. Patients received the treatment
in Clinical Oncology Department, Sohag University, and Medical Oncology
Department, Assiut University. Patients received low-dose gemcitabine (250 mg/m2)
over 6-hour infusion, weekly for seven weeks and then on days 1 and 8 every 3
weeks till unacceptable toxicity or progression of the disease. Results: Twenty-six
patients were enrolled in this study. After starting 7 weeks of treatment, the
disease control rate was 38.5% in the form of complete response in 3.8% of
patients, partial response in 26.9%, and stationary
response in 7.7%. However, disease progression occurred in 61.5%.
Progression-free survivals were 65.38%, 23.07%, 7.69% and 3.84% after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, respectively. Also, overall survivals at
3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month were 61.53%, 42.30%, 23.07%, and 7.69%, respectively. Conclusion: Prolonged infusion of low dose gemcitabine is a tolerable and a good option in
locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma. There may be a benefit of
that protocol in patients with bad performance status. More clinical trials
with a combination of other cytotoxic agents or target therapy are needed to get better survival and lesser toxicity.