Fluorouracil, Gemcitabine, and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Cancer of the Pancreas

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 1969-12-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy may kill more tumor cells. It is not yet known which treatment regimen is most effective for pancreatic cancer.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of fluorouracil and gemcitabine plus radiation therapy in treating patients with cancer of the pancreas who have undergone surgery.

• Phase: Phase 3
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group
• Collaborators: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; National Cancer Institute (NCI); Southwest Oncology Group
• Treatments: Fluorouracil; Gemcitabine

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

• Stage T1-4, N0-1 (stage I-IVA)

• No M1 or NX staging

• Primary tumor of the pancreas (pancreatic head, neck, uncinate process, or body/tail) and maximum diameter/dimension and tumor status at surgical margin known

• Prior potentially curative gross resection within 3-8 weeks before study

• No non-adenocarcinomas, adenosquamous carcinomas, islet cell carcinomas, cystadenomas, cystadenocarcinomas, carcinoid tumors, duodenal carcinomas, distal bile duct carcinoma, or ampullary carcinoma

• No recurrent disease

• Post-resection CA-19-9 level required

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• Karnofsky 60-100%

Life expectancy:

• Not specified

Hematopoietic:

• WBC at least 3,000/mm^3

• Platelet count at least 100,000/mm^3

Hepatic:

• Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)

• SGOT no greater than 5 times ULN

Renal:

• Creatinine no greater than 1.5 times ULN

Other:

• No significant nausea or vomiting

• No prior malignancy within the past 5 years except nonmelanomatous skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix

• Able to maintain adequate nutrition (at least 1,500 calories/day)

• Feeding tube allowed

• Not pregnant

• Negative pregnancy test

• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• Not specified

Chemotherapy:

• No prior chemotherapy

Endocrine therapy:

• Not specified

Radiotherapy:

• No prior radiotherapy

Surgery:

• See Disease Characteristics