Milder chemotherapy for older patients with pancreatic cancer

Older adults with newly diagnosed advanced pancreatic cancer are often frail and vulnerable.

The standard chemotherapy regimens such as the FOLFIRINOX regimen are quite toxic and not suitable for frail patients.

At the recent ASCO meeting in Chicago, a study which utilised gentler versions of the existing chemotherapy regimens was presented.

These gentler versions were found to have reasonable efficacy and toxicity.

References

1. ASCO post. Efrat Dotan, MD, on Pancreatic Cancer in Older Adults: Defining the Optimal Treatment Approach.

2. ASCO 2024 Abstract. A randomized phase II study of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel compared with 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and liposomal irinotecan in older patients with treatment-naïve metastatic pancreatic cancer (GIANT): ECOG-ACRIN EA2186.

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