ESPAC-1 trial progress report: the European randomized adjuvant study comparing radiochemotherapy, 6 months chemotherapy and combination therapy versus observation in pancreatic cancer.
Neoptolemos JP., Kerr DJ., Beger H., Link K., Pederzoli P., Bassi C., Dervenis C., Fernandez-Cruz L., Laçaine F., Friess H., Büchler M.
At the joint International Association of Pancreatology and European Pancreatic Club meeting at King's College, London (July 9-12, 1997), a satellite meeting of the European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC) met to discuss the progress of the ESPAC-1 trial. This study will address which, if any, of the following adjuvant treatments are of benefit in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer: radiotherapy (40 Gy with 5-fluorouracil as a sensitising agent); 6 months chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil and folinic acid), or a combination of these treatments. The study, which commenced in 1994, had already recruited 348 patients into the 3 treatment arms and 1 control arm of the study by May 31, 1997. This is the largest study of its kind in pancreatic cancer and should definitively address the question of the role of conventional methods of adjuvant treatment in pancreatic cancer.