This pilot clinical trial studies the side effects of fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride, leucovorin calcium and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX regimen) or gemcitabine-nab-paclitaxel followed by stereotactic body radiation therapy in treating patients with pancreatic cancer that has spread from its original site to nearby tissues or lymph nodes and cannot be removed by surgery, or is difficult to remove by surgery due to the tumor surrounding major blood channels in the pancreas. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as the FOLFIRINOX regimen and gemcitabine-nab-paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Stereotactic body radiation therapy uses special equipment to position a patient and deliver radiation to tumors with high precision. This method can kill tumor cells with fewer doses over a shorter period and cause less damage to normal tissue. Giving the FOLFIRINOX regimen or gemcitabine-nab-paclitaxel followed by stereotactic body radiation therapy may work better in treating patients with pancreatic cancer.
Study sponsor and potential other locations can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov for NCT03600623.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To evaluate safety and tolerability associated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To estimate progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for all patients.
II. To evaluate the rate of preoperative chemo radio therapy completion.
III. To estimate the proportion of patients undergoing surgery after preoperative chemoradiation therapy.
TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To evaluate tumor and circulating free deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) for mutations relevant to pancreatic cancer.
II. Correlation of tumor response using dual energy computed tomography (CT) imaging with 1-year PFS and OS.
OUTLINE: Patients are assigned to 1 of 2 arms.
ARM 1: Patients receive oxaliplatin intravenously (IV) over 2 hours, leucovorin calcium IV over 90 minutes, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes days 1 and 15, and fluorouracil IV continuously over 46-48 hours on days 1-3 and 15-17. Treatment repeats every 4 weeks for up to 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Within 4 weeks, patients with no evidence of metastatic disease at the completion of course 2 then undergo stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) every other day (QOD) over 5 fractions.
ARM 2: Patients receive nab-paclitaxel IV over 30-40 minutes and gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, and 15. Treatment repeats every 4 weeks for up to 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Within 4 weeks, patients with no evidence of metastatic disease at the completion of course 2 then undergo SBRT as in Arm 1.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 4 weeks and then every 3 months for 1 year.
Trial PhaseNo phase specified
Trial Typetreatment
Lead OrganizationUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer Center
Principal InvestigatorRavi Kumar Paluri