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| Image credit Cancer Research UK via Wikipedia |
Platinum-based chemotherapy including cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin is the current treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Such patients typically have a poor outcomes with a 5-year survival rate of 2.9 percent.
The researchers led by Eileen M. O'Reilly, MD of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center were looking for biomarkers such as DNA mutations that might predict which patients would respond better to platinum-based chemotherapy. The study was published in the May 22, 2020 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
The researchers evaluated the progression-free survival and overall survival of patients with advanced-stage pancreatic cancer who had both germline and somatic cell mutations. These are genes that can be inherited, such as BRACA-1, BRCA-2 and a host of other such genetic mutations.
The researchers found that among 262 patients 50 had such mutations. After a median follow-up 22 months, meaning half had been followed longer than that and half had been followed less than that. They found that patients with the mutations survived 25.1 months compared to 15.3 months for those without the mutations.
The results suggest that patients with pancreatic cancer should be tested for genetic mutations to better target the best treatment.
“Our data support the use of platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with defects in various HR genes,” said O’Reilly in a press release. “The results underscore the importance of genetic testing in newly diagnosed patients to help refine treatment decisions.”
Sources: AACR press release, and the journal Clinical Cancer Research
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