Dr. Choti on Future Treatment of Patients With Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer

Michael A. Choti, MD, chief of surgery, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the future of treatment for patients with stage IV pancreatic cancer.

There are novel agents and new forms of chemotherapy in development for patients with inoperable, stage IV pancreatic cancer, says Choti. The strategy for these patients are to find effective therapies for which chemotherapy is applied in neoadjuvant or potentially curative situations.

The most common regimen is a combination of aggressive cytotoxic chemotherapy to offer in a neoadjuvant setting patients who are potentially operable. A common form of chemotherapy is a combination of fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatincalled FOLFIRINOX. Another common regimen is the combination of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane), which is typically used in a neoadjuvant setting for patients with pancreatic cancer who are resectable or borderline resectable.