Abstract
Neutropenia is a common side effect associated with nab-paclitaxel gemcitabine (Nab-Gem) therapy. We retrospectively investigated the association between neutropenia induced by first-line Nab-Gem and survival in metastatic pancreatic carcinoma patients. Metastatic pancreatic patients treated with first-line Nab-Gem were included in this retrospective analysis. Neutropenia was categorized using the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria scale. Outcome measures were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and response rate. 115 patients were analyzed. Median PFS was 7 months (95% CI 5–8) for patients with grade ≥ 3 neutropenia and 6 months (95% CI 5–6) for patients with grade < 3 neutropenia [p = 0.08; hazard ratio (HR 0.68)]. Median OS was 13 months (95% CI 10–18) for patients with grade ≥ 3 neutropenia and 10 months (95% CI 8–13) for patients with grade < 3 neutropenia (p = 0.04; HR 0.44). In multivariate analysis, the occurrence of grade ≥ 3 neutropenia showed a statistically significant association with OS (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.09–0.86; p = 0.05). Nab-Gem-induced neutropenia is associated with longer survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.
Highlights
Neutropenia is a common side effect associated with nab-paclitaxel gemcitabine (Nab-Gem) therapy
This study aimed to evaluate whether the development of grade ≥ 3 neutropenia positively correlates with efficacy and survival of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with Nab-Gem as first-line treatment
From January 2015 to December 2018 a total of 115 patients diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer and treated with first-line Nab-Gem were retrospectively investigated[20]
Summary
Neutropenia is a common side effect associated with nab-paclitaxel gemcitabine (Nab-Gem) therapy. The progression-free survival (PFS) was longer in the experimental arm (5.5 months for the Nab-Gem group and 3.7 months for the gemcitabine group, HR 0.69) and the response rate (RR) was 23% for Nab-Gem arm versus 7% for the control arm. Based on these results, Nab-Gem is widely considered a valid option for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer as first-line chemotherapy. Additional data in support of Nab-Gem efficacy for pancreatic cancer comes from Real-world experiences[12,13,14] In these studies, the median OS ranged from 9.2 to 10.9 months and median PFS ranged from 5.2 to 6.7 months in favour of patients treated with Nab-Gem
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