Dr. Philip on the Impact of the PRODIGE 24/CCTG PA.6 Study in Pancreatic Cancer

Philip A. Philip, MD, PhD, FRCP, professor of Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, clinical professor of Oncology at Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, discusses the impact of the PRODIGE 24/CCTG PA.6 study in pancreatic cancer.

In this phase III study, the use of modified FOLFIRINOX resulted in a significantly better overall survival and disease-free survival (DFS) compared with gemcitabine alone. DFS served as the primary endpoint of the study. These data were the first to demonstrate such a profound benefit with the use of adjuvant chemotherapy, Philip says. Notably, there was no use of radiation therapy in the study.

However, Philip notes, not all the patients were able to complete the full 6 months of therapy. This raises the issue of whether or not all patients are able to tolerate chemotherapy following surgical resection. Nonetheless, this was a good study showing that mFOLFIRINOX is improving the survival of patients with resectable disease, Philip concludes. Interestingly, patients treated with gemcitabine also did well on this study.