Phase II clinical trial of curcumin in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

14151 Background: Pancreatic cancer is virtually always lethal, and the only FDA-approved therapies- gemcitabine and erlotinib- produce objective responses in less than 10% of patients. Curcumin (diferuloyl methane) is a plant- derived compound that inhibits the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) transcription factor (central to pancreatic cancer growth) and has substantial antitumor activity in preclinical models. We evaluated the toxicity and anti-tumor activity of curcumin, and its impact on survival and biologic correlates. Methods: Patients received 8 grams of curcumin (Sabinsa Corp.) by mouth daily for two months. Maintenance therapy was continued at the same dose and schedule until disease progression. Results: Seventeen patients were enrolled as of the date of analysis. Six were inevaluable: noncompliance (n = 1), never dosed (n = 1), noted to have gastric obstruction after one dose (n = 1), and too early (n = 3). Eleven patients were evaluable for response and 15 were evaluable for toxicity. To ...