New drug offers hope for pancreatic cancer

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A clinical trial shows that adding a new drug to standard therapy improves the survival rate in pancreatic cancer.
Only around 13 per cent of those with pancreatic cancer can expect to survive for more than one year. Clearly there is an urgent need for better treatment - which is why a trial of a new drug called capecitabine is of great interest.

Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research now reveal that adding the drug to the standard chemotherapy, which consists of the drug gemcitabine, improves survival. Those on the combination had a 26 per cent survival rate at one year, compared to 19 per cent of those on standard therapy.

Another advantage is that capecitabine is available in tablet, rather than injection, form which makes the treatment easier on the patient. The extra time bought by the drug is encouraging for pancreatic cancer is one of the hardest forms of the disease to treat. Capecitabine has already proved itself in bowel and breast cancer treatment.

Source
European Cancer Conference Meeting 2nd November 2005