Study Presented on Tumor Downsizing in Pancreatic Cancer Patients

A recent study — completed by a team of AdventHealth Orlando specialists including Joseph Reza, MD, Hunter Meyer, MD [HG1] , Julie Pepe, PhD, Jiajing Wang, MS, Ahmed Zakari, MD and Sebastian de La Fuente, MD — was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) GI 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium. In this study, the team aimed to determine tumor downsizing in patients who underwent neoadjuvant systemic therapy followed by a curative-intended surgical resection.

97 patients were analyzed during this study under the following criteria:

Basic demographics
Chemotherapy regimens and duration
Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) findings
Pathologic results
Rates of radiotherapy
Type of surgical procedure

Of the 97 total patients who were observed, 40 underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 13 patients also received concurrent radiation therapy. Of the 57 patients who were resected upfront, EUS tended to underestimate tumor sizes significantly compared to pathologic dimensions. The average difference was .66cm.

In the group of patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 90% of patients had downsizing at an average of 8% tumor size. The study found that there we no differences in rates of tumor downsizing or a correlation in margin status based on chemotherapy used and the type of chemotherapy regimen also didn’t affect the ratio of positive lymph nodes harvested.

Overall, the team’s study found that patients with borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma experienced tumor downsizing after a course of neoadjuvant therapy, regardless of the type of chemotherapy regimens utilized.

For more information or to refer a patient, call Gastrointestinal Oncology Nurse Navigator Erica Corcoran, MSN, RN, OCN, AOCNS, at 407-303-5981, or Wyntir Purtha, BSN, RN, at 407-303-5959.