Neoadjuvant therapy for localized pancreatic cancer: guiding principles. J Gastrointest Oncol 2015 Aug;6(4):418-29
Date
08/12/2015Pubmed ID
26261728Pubmed Central ID
PMC4502155DOI
10.3978/j.issn.2078-6891.2015.053Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84995784225 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 54 CitationsAbstract
The management of localized pancreatic cancer (PC) remains controversial. Historically, patients with localized disease have been treated with surgery followed by adjuvant therapy (surgery-first approach) under the assumption that surgical resection is necessary, even if not sufficient for cure. However, a surgery-first approach is associated with a median overall survival of only 22-24 months, suggesting that a large proportion of patients with localized PC have clinically occult metastatic disease. As a result, adjuvant therapy has been recommended for all patients with localized PC, but in actuality, it is often not received due to the high rates of perioperative complications associated with pancreatic resections. Recognizing that surgery may be necessary but usually not sufficient for cure, there has been growing interest in neoadjuvant treatment sequencing, which benefits patients with both localized and metastatic PC by ensuring the delivery of oncologic therapies which are commensurate with the stage of disease. For patients who have clinically occult metastatic disease, neoadjuvant therapy allows for the early delivery of systemic therapy and avoids the morbidity and mortality of a surgical resection which would provide no oncologic benefit. For patients with truly localized disease, neoadjuvant therapy ensures the delivery of all components of the multimodality treatment. This review details the rationale for a neoadjuvant approach to localized PC and provides specific recommendations for both pretreatment staging and treatment sequencing for patients with resectable and borderline resectable (BLR) disease.
Author List
Fathi A, Christians KK, George B, Ritch PS, Erickson BA, Tolat P, Johnston FM, Evans DB, Tsai SAuthors
Kathleen K. Christians MD Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinBeth A. Erickson MD Professor in the Radiation Oncology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Douglas B. Evans MD Chair, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Parag P. Tolat MD Chief, Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
