
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”
This trial looked at GemCap chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy with either gemcitabine or capecitabine for cancer of the pancreas that is locally advanced, but had not spread anywhere else in the body. This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.
If pancreatic cancer can’t be removed with surgery, doctors may use a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This is called chemoradiotherapy or chemoradiation. The chemotherapy makes the cancer cells more sensitive to radiotherapy.
In this trial, researchers wanted to learn more about how well this treatment worked. Everybody taking part had chemotherapy to begin with. This was a combination of gemcitabine and capecitabine (GemCap). If the cancer didn’t get bigger, they then had chemoradiotherapy. At the same time as having radiotherapy, some people had gemcitabine and some capecitabine.
The aims of the trial were to
The trial team found that, after initial chemotherapy, it might be better to use capecitabine rather than gemcitabine as part of chemoradiation for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
This was a phase 2 trial. It was a randomised trial. People taking part were put into 1 of 2 treatment groups after their initial chemotherapy.
114 people agreed to take part in the trial. Everyone had 3 cycles of GemCap chemotherapy. Of these 114 people, 74 were able to have chemoradiation. Of these 74 people
Overall people coped well with their treatment and most of them in both groups completed their radiotherapy.
A month after finishing radiotherapy, the researchers looked at how well people had responded to treatment. Of 35 people they looked at in the capecitabine group they found that
Of the 36 people they looked at in the gemcitabine group they found that
The average amount of time people lived and were free of cancer was
Overall the average amount of time that people lived was
The most common side effects reported were
The trial team concluded that although there were a small number of people in this trial the results suggest that capecitabine may be better than gemcitabine as a part of chemoradiation to treat locally advanced pancreatic cancer because it had a slightly better outcome and fewer side effects.
We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Somnath Mukherjee
Cancer Research UK
Cardiff University
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUK/07/040.
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”