• Do Chang Moon, Hee Seung Lee, Yong Il Lee, Moon Jae Chung, Jeong Youp Park, Seung Woo Park, Si Young Song, Jae Bock Chung, and Seungmin Bang.
• Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine and Yonsei Institute of Gastroenterology, Seoul, Korea.
• Yonsei Med. J. 2016 Sep 1; 57 (5): 112411301124-30.

PurposeErlotinib-gemcitabine combined chemotherapy is considered as the standard treatment for unresectable pancreatic cancer. This study aimed to determine the clinical factors associated with response to this treatment.Materials And MethodsThis retrospective study included 180 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer who received ≥2 cycles of gemcitabine-erlotinib combination therapy as first-line palliative chemotherapy between 2006 and 2014. "Long-term response" was defined as tumor stabilization after >6 chemotherapy cycles.ResultsThe median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 3.9 and 8.1 months, respectively. On univariate analysis, liver metastasis (p=0.023) was negatively correlated with long-term response. Locally advanced stage (p=0.017), a history of statin treatment (p=0.01), and carcinoembryonic antigen levels <4.5 (p=0.029) had a favorable effect on long-term response. On multivariate analysis, a history of statin treatment was the only independent favorable factor for long-term response (p=0.017). Prognostic factors for OS and PFS were significantly correlated with liver metastasis (p=0.031 and 0.013, respectively). A history of statin treatment was also significantly associated with OS after adjusting for all potential confounders (hazard ratio, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-0.92; p=0.026).ConclusionThese results suggest that statins have a favorable effect on "long-term response" to gemcitabine-erlotinib chemotherapy in unresectable pancreatic cancer patients. Statins may have a chemoadjuvant role in stabilizing long-term tumor growth.

29 keywords...

hide…