Dr. O'Reilly on the NEOLAP Study in Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Eileen O'Reilly, MD, associate director for clinical research and medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the phase II NEOLAP study which showed that more patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer were able to undergo surgical resection following induction chemotherapy with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) or sequential FOLFIRINOX.

After completing two cycles of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, patients were randomized to continue the combination therapy or switch to FOLFIRINOX.

Surgical exploration was possible in 62.5% of patients who received gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel and 63.6% who received sequential FOLFIRFOX. Notably, secondary tumor resection was associated with a significant survival benefit in the intent-to-treat population.

Both regimens showed activity in this patient population, though neither protocol was statistically superior in terms of the conversation rate to resectable tumors or overall survival.

These results suggest that secondary surgical resection following surgical exploration should be recommended to this patient population.