The first advance in pancreatic cancer treatment in a decade has been achieved by researchers in a Canadian-led study, and at last gives some encouragement to scientists and invigorates a field that has experienced more than its share of disheartening failures.
The research has found that combining a new targeted cancer drug, erlotinib, with conventional chemotherapy led to a modest increase in survival for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, one of the most treatment-resistant forms of the disease.
Lead investigator Dr. Malcolm Moore a medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, says it has been 'a really tough nut to crack, and this is the first kind of crack they have seen in 10 years in terms of something that does appear to work on pancreatic cancer'.
Pancreatic cancer has one of the poorest survival rates and in that respect is probably one of the worst cancers you can get. The advances against the cancer have been few and far between.
Dr. Moore was asked to present the findings at the prestigious annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists.
The study which was funded by the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the research arm of the Canadian Cancer Society, followed 569 patients from North America, Australia, Asia, Europe and Israel, and OSI Pharmaceuticals, which developed the drug, also supported the trial.
In the trial, the team found that patients who received erlotinib in combination with gemcitabine had a 24 per cent improvement in length of survival compared to patients who received gemcitabine alone. Unlike traditional chemotherapies, which cause unpleasant side-effects, erlotinib produced only mild side-effects and was generally well tolerated.
However on a sobering note they still found that survival times were short, and few, if any, of the people who took part in the trial are alive to learn of the findings.
To date, only 17 of 100 people with pancreatic cancer survive for a year after their diagnosis after traditional chemotherapy is used, but Dr. Moore says that in itself is a small miracle; 15 years ago when Dr. Moore entered the field, no one with pancreatic cancer lived to mark the anniversary of a diagnosis.
But with chemo and erlotinib - sold under the brand name Tarceva - 24 of 100 patients survived to one year.
Dr. Moore says even though the improvement is small, it is still important because it's better, but he says they obviously have a long way to go.