Second-line chemotherapy in advanced pancreatic carcinoma: a multicenter survey of the Gruppo Oncologico Italia Meridionale on the activity and safety of the FOLFOX4 regimen in clinical practice.

Background: In daily clinical practice second-line chemotherapy (SLCT) is frequently given to patients with advanced pancreatic cancer failing gemcitabine-based first-line chemotherapy without solid scientific support. Patients and methods: A retrospective survey was carried out including 42 patients. Patients received standard FOLFOX4 regimen biweekly until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Results: Six partial responses (14%) and 16 stabilizations (38%) were recorded for a tumor growth control rate of 57%. The median time to progression (TtP) was 4 months (range 1–7 months), and median overall survival (OS) was 6.7 months (range 2–9 months). A stabilization of performance status (PS) and a subjective improvement of cancer-related symptoms were recorded in 27 patients. Conclusions: Data presented in this paper support the use of FOLFOX4 regimen in the second-line treatment of adenocarcinoma of the pancreas patients. The use of SLCT, however, should be carefully proposed to patients with good PS or those who had a good response to first-line therapy.