Open Access

Meta‑analyses of treatment standards for pancreatic cancer (Review)

  • Authors:
    • Jun Gong
    • Richard Tuli
    • Arvind Shinde
    • Andrew E. Hendifar
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: December 18, 2015     https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2015.716
  • Pages: 315-325
  • Copyright: © Gong et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is the most lethal common cancer with an estimated 5‑year survival rate of 6‑7% (across all stages). The only potential curative therapy is surgical resection in those with localized disease. Adjuvant (postoperative) therapy confers a survival advantage over postoperative observation alone. Neoadjuvant (preoperative) therapy offers the potential to downstage initially unresectable tumors for resection, sterilize resection margins and decrease locoregional recurrence, and identify a subset of patients with aggressive disease for whom surgery will not be beneficial. Induction chemotherapy followed by consolidation chemoradiation is another recommended approach in those with locally advanced disease. For those who cannot be downstaged, cannot tolerate surgery, or were diagnosed with metastatic disease, treatment remains palliative with chemotherapy being a critical component of this approach. Recently, intensive combination chemotherapy has been shown to improve survival rates in comparison to gemcitabine alone in advanced disease. The past few decades have afforded an accumulation of high‑level evidence regarding neoadjuvant, adjuvant and palliative therapies in pancreatic cancer. There are numerous reviews discussing recent retrospective studies, prospective studies and randomized controlled trials in each of these areas. However, reviews of optimal and recommended treatment strategies across all stages of pancreatic cancer that focus on the highest levels of hierarchical evidence, such as meta‑analyses, are limited. The discussion of novel therapeutics is beyond the scope of this review. However, an extensive and the most current collection of meta‑analyses of first‑line systemic and locoregional treatment options for all stages of pancreatic cancer to date has been accumulated.
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March-2016
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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Gong J, Tuli R, Shinde A and Hendifar AE: Meta‑analyses of treatment standards for pancreatic cancer (Review). Mol Clin Oncol 4: 315-325, 2016
APA
Gong, J., Tuli, R., Shinde, A., & Hendifar, A.E. (2016). Meta‑analyses of treatment standards for pancreatic cancer (Review). Molecular and Clinical Oncology, 4, 315-325. https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2015.716
MLA
Gong, J., Tuli, R., Shinde, A., Hendifar, A. E."Meta‑analyses of treatment standards for pancreatic cancer (Review)". Molecular and Clinical Oncology 4.3 (2016): 315-325.
Chicago
Gong, J., Tuli, R., Shinde, A., Hendifar, A. E."Meta‑analyses of treatment standards for pancreatic cancer (Review)". Molecular and Clinical Oncology 4, no. 3 (2016): 315-325. https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2015.716