Chemotherapy For Pancreatic Cancer
Chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer relies on chemicals, hence the name, to slow tumor growth on an affected pancreas. Many times the drugs are used with radiation, and often two types of chemotherapeutic drugs are combined. Depending on the tumor's location on the pancreas and the patient's reaction to certain medications, doctors decide which drugs to use.
At first the most common chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer was a liquid drug called 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Doctors gave 5-FU was as unit doses, but research led them to use a bolus (a dose injected into the vein rather than infused) dose. Data shows that using 5-FU in bolus does gave people an average survival rate of 5 months or less. Given over prolonged infusion rates, though, the rate climbed to 6-8 months.
Now the most common drug is a medication called gemcitabine, or Gemzar. Studies showed that it helped the main pancreatic cancer symptoms: weight loss and tumor-related pain. It also slightly improved patient survival rates over 5-FU. It is given in three-hour infusions every three weeks.
Another common drug is capecitabine, or Xeloda. It is a tablet version of 5-FU. It was tested in the U.K. in combination with Gemzar in a trial called GEMCAP. It found that slightly over 1 in 4 people, or 26 percent, lived at least a year. This contrasted the 1 in 5, or 19 percent, who only used Gemzar. Aside from these types of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer, there are many experimental - and risky - drugs available. A type of medication called topoisomerase I inhibitors is among them. Medications such as irinotecan, exatecan, and rubitecan are part of this type. Irinotecan is used against pancreatic, esophageal, colorectal, gastric, and lung cancers. When using it alone, patients with pancreatic cancer have a 5.2 month survival rate. Exatecan is much like irinotecan in function, but its survival rate about 5.5 months. Rubitecan, also called 9-nitrocamptothecin or 9NC, resembles the last two drugs. When used alone, it has 7.3 month survival rate among pancreatic cancer patients. Topoisomerase I inhibitors usually work better when combined with gemcitabine - except rubitecan, which is more effective alone. Taxanes are also experimental. Docetaxel is a drug in this class. Average survival rates are greater than 6 months. Paclitaxel, a cousin of docetaxel, has an average survival of 5 months. When paired with gemcitabine, survival rates increase slightly. Epirubicin if an anthracycline, a chemotherapy drug that acts as an antibiotic. It works by disrupting cell division and thus tumor growth. The median survival for users was 9 months for some and at least 5 months for the other patients in the study. Irofulven is a new agent shows great antitumor activity in many range types of human tumors, one of which is the adenocarcinoma, the most common and deadly form of pancreatic cancer. Irofulven works by causing cells to self-destruct. Another drug is Ukrain (NSC-631570). It is derived from a plant called Chelidonium majus, a European and Asian weed. Herbalists long used it to treat warts and skin cancers. Its mechanism of tumor fighting is still unknown, however. Most the of the above mentioned drugs are used in combination with each other or with gemcitabine. But though survival rates increase with drug use, chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer does not extend a patient's life very far. It will usually add from 2-5 months, but rarely more.
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