Chemotherapy in advanced pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma: A retrospective multicenter AGEO study

Int J Cancer. 2023 May 1;152(9):1894-1902. doi: 10.1002/ijc.34414. Epub 2023 Jan 3.

Abstract

Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (PASC) account for <5% of pancreatic malignancies. The efficacy of modern chemotherapy regimens in patients with advanced PASC is unknown. Patients with advanced PASC from 2008 to 2021 were consecutively included in this retrospective multicenter study. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method. Ninety-four PASC from 16 French centers were included (median age, 67.3 years; males, 56.4%; metastatic disease, 85.1%). The first-line treatment was chemotherapy for 79 patients (84.0%) (37 FOLFIRINOX (FX), 7 Gemcitabine-nab paclitaxel (GN) and 35 for all other regimen) or best supportive care (BSC) alone for 15 patients (16.0%). No significant difference was observed between FX and GN in terms of PFS (P = .67) or OS (P = .5). Modern regimens pooled together (FX and GN) as compared to all others chemotherapy regimens showed an improvement of overall response rate (39.5% and 9.7%, P = .002), PFS (median, 7.8 vs 4.7 months, P = .02) and OS (median, 12.7 vs 9.2 months, P = .35). This large study evaluating first-line treatment regimens in advanced PASC suggests that modern regimens as FX or GN may be preferable to all other chemotherapy regimens. These results deserve confirmation in prospective studies.

Keywords: adenosquamous carcinoma; advanced disease; chemotherapy; pancreatic cancer.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Carcinoma, Adenosquamous* / chemically induced
  • Carcinoma, Adenosquamous* / drug therapy
  • Deoxycytidine
  • Fluorouracil / therapeutic use
  • Gemcitabine
  • Humans
  • Leucovorin / therapeutic use
  • Male
  • Paclitaxel / therapeutic use
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Prospective Studies
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • Gemcitabine
  • Deoxycytidine
  • Paclitaxel
  • Fluorouracil
  • Leucovorin