Neoadjuvant Treatment in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer (LAPC) Patients with FOLFIRINOX or Gemcitabine NabPaclitaxel: A Single-Center Experience and a Literature Review

Abstract

The optimal therapeutic strategy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer patients (LAPC) has not yet been established. Our aim is to evaluate how surgery after neoadjuvant treatment with either FOLFIRINOX (FFN) or Gemcitabine-NabPaclitaxel (GemNab) affects the clinical outcome in these patients. LAPC patients treated at our institution were retrospectively analysed to reach this goal. The group characteristics were similar: 35 patients were treated with the FOLFIRINOX regimen and 21 patients with Gemcitabine Nab-Paclitaxel. The number of patients undergoing surgery was 14 in the FFN group (40%) and six in the GemNab group (28.6%). The median Disease-Free Survival (DFS) was 77.10 weeks in the FFN group and 58.65 weeks in the Gem Nab group (p = 0.625), while the median PFS in the unresected group was 49.4 weeks in the FFN group and 30.9 in the GemNab group (p = 0.0029, 95% CI 0.138–0.862, HR 0.345). The overall survival (OS) in the resected population needs a longer follow up to be completely assessed, while the median overall survival (mOS) in the FFN group was 72.10 weeks and 53.30 weeks for the GemNab group (p = 0.06) in the unresected population. Surgery is a valuable option for LAPC patients and it is able to induce a relevant survival advantage. FOLFIRINOX and Gem-NabPaclitaxel should be offered as first options to pancreatic cancer patients in the locally advanced setting.