Modified GTX as second-line therapy for advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Advanced pancreatic cancer remains a lethal disease with no standard treatment beyond first-line palliative chemotherapy. Gemcitabine, docetaxel, and capecitabine (GTX) is a regimen that has come into use for advanced pancreatic cancer despite a paucity of randomized data. We have used a modified schedule of this regimen in the second-line setting aimed at biomodulating the activity of capecitabine by both docetaxel and gemcitabine. This report describes our experience with the use of modified GTX in nine patients with advanced pancreatic cancer as second-line chemotherapy. In our series, the median overall survival was 8 months (range 5.2–10.8). Prospective studies of this regimen in the second-line setting are warranted.