Treatment patterns, toxicity, and outcomes of elderly patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy.

Abstract

71 Background: Advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) has a poor prognosis despite treatment with palliative chemotherapy. Randomized trials have demonstrated improved overall survival (OS) with combination chemotherapy including 5-fluorouracil, irinotecan, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) or nab-plaxictaxel and Gemcitabine (NG) compared to Gemcitabine (GEM) alone, however, combination therapy is associated with higher rates of toxicity. There is limited data regarding the efficacy and toxicity of FOLFIRINOX, NG, and GEM in elderly patients with APC. Objective: Describe the treatment patterns, toxicity, and outcomes of patients ≥ 65 years of age treated with first-line palliative FOLFIRINOX, NG, or GEM. Methods: Patients ≥ 65 diagnosed with APC from 2012-2016 and treated with palliative chemotherapy in Manitoba were identified from the Manitoba Cancer Registry. Retrospective review identified patients who received first line FOLFIRINOX, NG, or GEM. Patient and treatment characteristics including hematologic and non-hematologic toxicities, dose reductions or delays, tumour response and survival were recorded. Results: 87 patients aged ≥ 65 received palliative chemotherapy: 52 (60%) FOLFIRINOX, 21 (24%) NG, and 14 (16%) GEM, with median ages of 69 (65-84), 75 (65-88), and 73 (67-82), respectively. More patients treated with FOLFIRINOX had an ECOG 0-1 compared to other treatments (p = < 0.001). There was no difference in hematologic toxicity according to treatment group (p = 0.807). There was more non-hematologic toxicity with FOLFIRINOX (p = < 0.001), particularly neuropathy (p = 0.008), fatigue (p = < 0.001), and nausea/vomiting (p = 0.008). Tumour response was highest with FOLFIRINOX (p = 0.005), with a trend towards improved survival compared to NG and GEM (median OS 267 vs 232 and 126 days, respectively, p = 0.057). Conclusions: Many older patients with APC received FOLFIRINOX, with more toxicity, but also greater tumour response and a trend toward improved survival. This suggests that selected elderly patients can tolerate first-line FOLFIRINOX. This may be also due to effective patient evaluation and appropriate assignment to different treatments.