Abstract

Despite attempted curative resection of localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma, most patients succumb a recurrence and die of their disease. The Gastrointestinal Tumor Study Group, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, and European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer trials have suggested the benefit of adjuvant therapy. However, the relatively few randomized trials available have not established a definite standard of care due to study limitations. Although these trials, and the recently published Charité Onkologie (CONKO)-001 trial, have shown a definite advantage of adjuvant chemotherapy, the most effective chemotherapy and the role of radiation therapy remain unclear. This review will discuss the data available from reported trials of adjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer, especially the results of the ESPAC-3 study presented at the annual meeting of ASCO 2009, and consider future directions for clinical trials.