RESUMO
To establish an effective therapy for pancreatic cancer, we made a retrospective survey of gemcitabine treatment performed at 20 hospitals in Nagano Prefecture. We analyzed data of 106 patients (64 men and 42 women, median age 66 years (33-83 years old)), half of whom had stage IV disease. Gemcitabine was administered for 3 consecutive weeks with one week rest in 57 patients, biweekly in 30 patients, initially for 3 weeks with 1 week rest and switched to biweekly schedule to 15 patients, and with another regimen to 4 patients. Analysis of the results of gemcitabine treatment between the 3 weeks with 1-week-rest regimen and the biweekly regimen revealed no differences between regimens in growth inhibition and symptom alleviation. However, we found less occurrence of blood toxicity in the biweekly regimen (40%) than in the 3 weeks with 1 week-rest regimen (59%). Median survival time for the biweekly regime was 9.7 months, only slightly longer than that of the 3 weeks with 1-week-rest regimen (8.5 months). The present study showed that a biweekly regimen for gemcitabine administration may be equivalent to the standard regime of 3 weeks with 1-week-rest regimen. Moreover, the biweekly regimen has advantages over the 3 weeks with 1-week rest regimen both economically and in terms of convenience for outpatient treatment. Therefore, the present results should be confirmed in future prospective studies, with the hope of developing a new standard treatment regimen for pancreatic cancer.
Assuntos
Antimetabólitos Antineoplásicos/administração & dosagem , Desoxicitidina/análogos & derivados , Neoplasias Pancreáticas/tratamento farmacológico , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Desoxicitidina/administração & dosagem , Esquema de Medicação , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Estudos Retrospectivos , GencitabinaAssuntos
Oclusão Vascular Mesentérica/tratamento farmacológico , Ativadores de Plasminogênio/administração & dosagem , Ativador de Plasminogênio Tipo Uroquinase/administração & dosagem , Trombose Venosa/tratamento farmacológico , Idoso , Humanos , Infusões Intra-Arteriais , Masculino , Artéria Mesentérica Superior , Oclusão Vascular Mesentérica/diagnóstico por imagem , Veia Porta , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios X , Trombose Venosa/diagnóstico por imagemRESUMO
In Gemcitabine treatment, elderly patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer are more likely to suffer from haematological and non-haematological adverse effects than non-elderly patients. Forty percent of the elderly patients were dropped from the initial protocol due to the adverse effects, mainly because of non-haematological events or symptoms. To avoid adverse effects, the administration schedule for Gemcitabine tended to be less often and at a lower dose for elderly patients among members of the Nagano Pancreatic Cancer Study Group. However, the fact that some cases showed a limited effect from this administration schedule albeit without adverse effect, might suggest that the frequency of ordinary administration schedule should be maintained, although the Gemcitabine dose could be decreased in unresectable pancreatic cancer patients in poor condition.