A Pilot Study for Combination Chemotherapy Using Gemcitabine and S-1 for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Objectives: We performed a pilot study of a modified combination chemotherapy regimen with S-1 plus gemcitabine for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods: Gemcitabine was administered at a dose of 1,000 mg/m(2) in a 30-min intravenous injection on days 1 and 15. S-1 was administered orally at a dose of 40 mg/m(2) twice daily for 14 consecutive days followed by a 14-day rest. Each cycle was repeated every 28 days. Results: Sixteen patients were enrolled. No complete response was observed and partial response was observed in 5 patients (31.3%), stable disease in 10 patients (62.5%) and progressive disease in 1 patient (6.3%). The median time to progression was 10.0 months (95% CI 4.4-N.A.) and the median survival time was 20.4 months (95% CI 8.6-24.1 months). The major toxicities were grade 3 neutropenia (25.0%) and grade 3 anemia (6.3%). There were no grade 4 toxicities. Conclusions: Combination therapy with gemcitabine and S-1 using the modified 4-week schedule was well tolerated and efficacious for advanced pancreatic cancer. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel