Background/aims: To deliver anticancer drugs more selectively into cancer tissues and to improve survival time, we have developed a new method of intra-arterial chemotherapy for unresectable pancreatic cancer.
Methodology: From April 2002 to June 2006, twenty patients with pancreatic cancer with liver metastases were given intra-arterial infusions consisting of gemcitabine, 5-FU, and cisplatin mixed with angiotensin-II with the intent of increasing the blood flow into the tumor tissue but decreasing that to the non-tumor tissues. Simultaneously, tegafur/uracil was administered. A tumor marker and computed tomography (CT) findings were used to evaluate the efficacy of this chemotherapy.
Results: The median survival was 365 days, and 6-months and 1-year survival rates were 80.0% and 44.7%, respectively. In 12 of 20 cases, the tumor marker level was decreased after this chemotherapy. In 10 of 20 cases, computed tomography showed a decrease in the tumor size. In 6 patients, back pain was the chief complaint and was reduced to a self-controlled level in 20 patients. No major complications were encountered.
Conclusions: Compared with the previously reported data in traditional chemotherapies, our method of intra-arterial chemotherapy appears to be quite useful not only for prolonging patient survival but also for improving the quality of life. Intra-arterial regional chemotherapy including changes in distribution of blood flow induced by angiotensin-II appears to be an effective palliative treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer.