Abstract
Objective: An increasing number of patients with advanced pancreatic or biliary tract cancer who progress after a gemcitabine-containing regimen are candidates for further chemotherapy. We therefore evaluated a fully oral regimen of capecitabine and celecoxib (CapCel) as second-line treatment in these patients. Methods: Thirty-five patients with documented progressive disease after first-line treatment were enrolled. Capecitabine was administered at a dose of 1,000 mg/m2 b.i.d. for 2 consecutive weeks followed by 1 week of rest; celecoxib was given continuously at 200 mg b.i.d. Progression-free survival at 3 months was the primary study endpoint. Results: The CapCel combination was associated with an overall response rate of 9% and median survival duration of 19 weeks. Sixty percent of patients were free from progression 3 months after the start of treatment. Multivariate analysis identified a positive clinical benefit response and a decline in CA 19.9 serum levels >25% compared with baseline levels as independent predictors of prolonged survival. The treatment protocol was well tolerated with negligible hematological toxicity. The most common grade 3 non-hematological toxicities were hypertransaminasemia, diarrhea and asthenia. Conclusions: The CapCel combination is a safe treatment option with moderate activity in patients with pancreatic/biliary tract cancer after failure of a previous gemcitabine- containing regimen.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 254-261 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Oncology |
Volume | 76 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2009 |
Keywords
- Advanced pancreatic carcinoma
- Biliary tract cancer
- Capecitabine
- Celecoxib
- Oral chemotherapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cancer Research
- Oncology