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By Robert Preidt
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 30, 2019 (HealthDay News) – A new locally advanced pancreatic cancer treatment protocol can allow the surgical removal of previously inoperable tumors and improve survival rates, according to a new study.
"Locally advanced" pancreatic cancer is limited to the pancreas, but the tumor always involves large abdominal blood vessels and usually can not be removed by surgery.
It's one of the worst forms of an already deadly cancer, explained the Massachusetts General Hospital researchers.
However, the results of their clinical trial could offer new hope to these patients.
The trial included 49 patients with locally advanced and untreated pancreatic cancer treated with intensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as losartan, an antihypertensive drug.
The use of combination therapy enabled 34 of 49 participants to undergo surgical removal of their tumors, the team reported on May 30. JAMA Oncology.
And in 30 (61%) patients, surgery ("resection") removed any signs of cancer around the tumor.
The treatment protocol also dramatically improved survival rates, said the research team.
As explained by Dr. Janet Murphy, lead author of the study, "about 40% of patients with pancreatic cancer have locally resectable disease or borderline disease, with historically mediocre surgery rates. " She works in the division of hematology / oncology of the hospital.
"Being able to successfully eliminate the primary tumor in 61% of patients is a new benchmark and offers a lot of hope," Murphy said in a press release published at the hospital. "The willingness of our surgeons to try an operation even in patients with apparent cancer in or near blood vessels has been a key element in the success of our approach."
She stated that previous research has suggested the spread of the tumor (as shown by CT scans) and the ability of surgeons to remove the tumor after chemotherapy and radiation therapy "are no longer clearly correlated".
This could give the green light to surgeons.
"Although we did not see the total clearance of blood vessels in 61% of patients, 61% managed to completely eliminate their cancer. [anyway]"Said Murphy.
Continued
"Locally advanced pancreatic cancer is generally considered to be an incurable disease, so these results show a significant improvement over the rates of conversion to surgical resectability and long-term outcomes of the disease," said Dr. Jennifer Wo, co – author of the study, the press release. She comes from the radiation oncology department of the hospital.
"Based on these findings, we have launched a new multi-institutional clinical trial that also includes nivolumab immunotherapy, as it has also been shown that losartan treatment activates several immune system pathways," Wo said.
A specialist not involved in the trial agreed that the approach could be a new option for these patients.
"Of utmost importance, the results showed that they managed to eliminate the primary tumor in 61% of patients, which is a new benchmark," said Dr. Wasif Saif. He is the deputy chief physician and medical director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute in Lake Success, New York.
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