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Chemotherapy and Postsurgical Radiation Prolong Life for Pancreatic Cancer Patients BALTIMORE, Md -- July 25, 2008 -- Pancreatic cancer patients treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation after surgery survive approximately 6 months longer compared with those receiving surgery alone, report scientists. "Some physicians might avoid chemotherapy and radiation if a benefit in survival is uncertain. However, without proof, I believe it is a disservice to these patients if we eliminate chemotherapy and radiation," says radiation oncologist Joseph Herman, MD, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland, who led the study. Dr. Herman and his team sought to put the issue to rest by reviewing records of 616 Johns Hopkins patients whose pancreatic cancers were surgically removed between August 30, 1993, and February 28, 2005. The researchers compared the survival of 345 of the patients who had only surgery with 271 who were then treated with 5-fluorouracil (FU)-based chemotherapy agents and modern types of radiation. Patients receiving the combined chemotherapy and radiation experienced an improved median survival when compared with patients who did not. Two-year survival also improved, as did 5-year survival. Results were published in the July 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. "The survival benefit is still seen regardless of high-risk tumour characteristics and, after controlling for age, other concurrent diseases and surgical complications," Dr. Herman said. Researchers caution that this is a retrospective study and that selection bias was possible as they may have selected out those patients who were healthy enough to receive the chemotherapy and radiation. "Regardless, it is still encouraging to say that many of these patients had very aggressive cancer and a lot of them are still alive several years after they received this combination therapy," says Dr. Herman. SOURCE: Johns Hopkins Medical School E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version