Abstract

PURPOSE:

The primary objective of this study was to assess the 1-year survival of patients with locally advanced, unresectable pancreatic cancer treated with the combination of bevacizumab, capecitabine, and radiation. Secondary end points were toxicity, progression-free survival (PFS), and response rate (RR).

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer without duodenal invasion were treated with 50.4 Gy per 28 fractions to the gross tumor with concurrent capecitabine 825 mg/m(2) orally twice daily on days of radiation and bevacizumab 5 mg/kg on days 1, 15, and 29 followed by maintenance gemcitabine 1 g/m(2) weekly for 3 weeks and bevacizumab 5 mg/kg every 2 weeks, both in 4-week cycles until progression. Treatment plans were reviewed for quality assurance (QA).

RESULTS:

Between January 2005 and February 2006, 82 eligible patients were treated. The median and 1-year survival rates were 11.9 months (95% CI, 9.9 to 14.0 months) and 47% (95% CI, 36% to 57%). Median PFS was 8.6 months (95% CI, 6.9 to 10.5), and RR was 26%. Overall, 35.4% of patients had grade 3 or greater treatment-related gastrointestinal toxicity (22.0% during chemoradiotherapy, 13.4% during maintenance chemotherapy). Unacceptable radiotherapy protocol deviations (ie, inappropriately generous volume contoured) correlated with grade 3 or greater gastrointestinal toxicity during chemoradiotherapy (45% v 18%; adjusted odds ratio, 3.7; 95% CI, 0.98 to 14.1; P = .05).

CONCLUSION:

The addition of bevacizumab to chemoradiotherapy followed by bevacizumab and gemcitabine resulted in a similar median survival to previous Radiation Therapy Oncology Group studies in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Prospective QA may help limit toxicity in future trials.