Estrogen and somatostatin receptors have been found in pancreatic carcinoma cells, The growth of pancreatic carcinomas has been shown to be inhibited by various endocrine treatments. In view of these findings, a well known anti-estrogen tamoxifen has been used, both as a single agent and in combination with other agents, in clinical trials in patients with unresectable carcinoma of the exocrine pancreas. The impact on survival of tamoxifen in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma has been assessed among patients from the previously reported trials of tamoxifen as a single agent, and compared with the survival of patients treated with the synergistic combination of intravenous Onconase plus oral tamoxifen. While a few patients treated with tamoxifen as a single agent may survive for prolonged period of time, the significance of such results remains uncertain in view of the lack of significant survival difference between patients treated with tamoxifen vs. untreated controls in prospectively randomized trials, and vis a vis clearly multifactorial determination of survival. On the other hand, the synergistic combinations of agents that demonstrate favorable toxicity profiles may offer significant survival advantage, at least in some patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

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