First-Line Gemcitabine Chemotherapy With Our Without Sunitinib In Advanced or Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

This is an interventional treatment trial for Pancreatic Cancer focused on measuring cancer, pancreatic cancer, gemcitabine, sunitinib, Phase 2 Read More

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who suffer from locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer
• Patients with measurable disease (at least one uni-dimensionally measurable target lesion by CT-scan or MRI) according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST).
• ECOG performance status 0 to 1
• Signed written informed consent.
• White blood cell count (WBC) >= 3x10^9/L with neutrophils >= 1.5 x 10^9/L, platelet count >= 100x10^9/L, hemoglobin >= 5.6 mmol/L (9 g/dL).
• Total bilirubin < 2 x upper limit of normal.
• AST and ALT < 2.5 x upper limit of normal, or < 5 x upper limit of normal in case of liver metastases.
• Serum creatinine < 1.5 x upper limit of normal
• Normal ECG without QT prolongation

Exclusion Criteria:

• Resectable pancreatic cancer
• Previous chemotherapy (for adjuvant or metastatic disease)
• Any investigational drug within the 30 days before inclusion.
• Prior use of sunitinib or other multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor
• Pregnancy (absence to be confirmed by beta-hCG test) or lactation period.
• Men or women of child-bearing potential who are sexually active and unwilling to use a medically acceptable method of contraception during the trial.
• Clinically symptomatic brain or meningeal metastasis. (known or suspected)
• Cardiac arrhythmias requiring anti-arrhythmics (excluding beta blockers or digoxin).
• History of any of the following cardiac events within the past 6 months: myocardial infarction (including severe/unstable angina; coronary/peripheral artery bypass graft; symptomatic congestive heart failure (CHF) > NYHA Class II; cerebrovascular accident or transient ischemic attack; pulmonary embolism
• Uncontrolled severe hypertension (failure of diastolic blood pressure to fall below 90 mm Hg despite the use of up to 3 anti-hypertensive drugs
• Acute or sub-acute intestinal occlusion or history of inflammatory bowel disease or chronic diarrhea
• Previous malignancy (other than pancreatic cancer) in the last 5 years except basal cell cancer of the skin, pre-invasive cancer of the cervix or superficial bladder tumor [Ta, Tis and T1].
• History of organ allograft
• Patients requiring long-term cortisone therapy
• Patients requiring oral anticoagulation treatment (such as marcoumar)