Study of Low-Dose Fractionated Radiotherapy in Patients With Locally Advanced Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-02-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
People with pancreatic cancer usually have a large amount of the cancer in the area of the
pancreas and around it when they are diagnosed with it. Or their cancer has spread
(metastasized)outside that area of the abdomen and is not able to be surgically removed
(resected). For patients with metastatic disease, one standard treatment is the combination
of gemcitabine and erlotinib. This combination has shown slightly longer survival compared to
getting gemcitabine alone. For patients with localized but unresectable disease, the standard
treatment remains controversial. Early studies showed that chemotherapy and radiation
together was better than either one used alone. The greatest benefit of external beam
radiotherapy may be after a period of full-dose chemotherapy alone, to help the rapid spread.
A problem of beginning treatment with standard radiotherapy is that the doses of chemotherapy
usually have to be reduced sometimes by half.
Studies have already shown that low dose radiotherapy (LDRT)is safe. This study will evaluate
the safety of LDRT instead of standard doses with full dosing of gemcitabine and erlotinib in
patients with locally advanced or limited metastatic pancreatic cancer. Patients will be
enrolled in groups of 3 to 6 each with a slightly higher dose of LDRT and erlotinib.
For patients with locally advanced disease, this protocol also may help because most patients
develop and die from spread to the liver and abdominal cavity.