A novel schedule of erlotinib/capecitabine (7/7) as salvage therapy in previously treated advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a case series

Background:The objective of this study was to report a case series on the efficacy and safety of capecitabine 7/7 schedule combined with erlotinib (CAP-ERL) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) who have failed prior therapies.Methods:We retrospectively evaluated 13 patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer previously treated with gemcitabine or oxaliplatin–irinotecan-based first-line regimens. Treatment consisted of capecitabine (Xeloda) at a flat dose of 1000 mg orally twice daily on days 1–7 out of 14 days (7/7 schedule) and erlotinib (Tarceva) 100 mg orally once daily until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression. Tumor assessments were repeated every two cycles (8 weeks) and serum tumor markers were measured every 4 weeks.Results:All patients (median age: 63 years; 7 female/3 male) had various previous lines of treatments of chemotherapies. Median number of cycles with CAP-ERL was 4 (range 2–12). The overall response rate was 20%. CA19-9 was reduced more than 25%...