Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Second-Line Treatment Options: Is the Difference Only in Cost?

Abstract

Patients older than 18years old who applied to Ege University Hospital medical oncology department with a diagnosis of metastatic pancreatic cancer, who received first-line chemotherapy due to their illness, and who had progressed afterwards were included in the study. The files of the patients who applied between 2013 and 2017 were examined. Our study's primary endpoint was progression-free survival, and it was found that the median progression-free survival was 3.2months in the Xelox patients, 3.7months in the gemcitabine-nab paclitaxel patients, and 3.5months in the other regimens. When the secondary endpoint was evaluated, overall survival, the median overall survival was 5.9months in the Xelox patients, 5.3months in the gemcitabine-nab paclitaxel patients, and 4.8months in the other regimens. As a result, second-line treatments were compared, and no statistically significant difference was found between them. For this reason, the side effects of previously used drugs and the side effects of new drugs to be used, as well as their costs, should be evaluated when choosing a treatment.