Perioperative or adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX for resectable pancreatic cancer (PREOPANC-3): study protocol for a multicenter randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Surgical resection followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX (5-fluorouracil with leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) is currently the standard of care for patients with resectable pancreatic cancer. The main concern regarding adjuvant chemotherapy is that only half of patients actually receive adjuvant treatment. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, on the other hand, guarantees early systemic treatment and may increase chemotherapy use and thereby improve overall survival. Furthermore, it may prevent futile surgery in patients with rapidly progressive disease. However, some argue that neoadjuvant therapy delays surgery, which could lead to progression towards unresectable disease and thus offset the potential benefits. Comparison of perioperative (i.e., neoadjuvant and adjuvant) with (only) adjuvant administration of mFOLFIRINOX in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) is needed to determine the optimal approach.

METHODS

This multicenter, phase 3, RCT will include 378 patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with a WHO performance status of 0 or 1. Patients are recruited from 20 Dutch centers and three centers in Norway and Sweden. Resectable pancreatic cancer is defined as no arterial contact and ≤ 90 degrees venous contact. Patients in the intervention arm are scheduled for 8 cycles of neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX followed by surgery and 4 cycles of adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX (2-week cycle of oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2, leucovorin 400 mg/m2, irinotecan 150 mg/m2 at day 1, followed by 46 h continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil 2400 g/m2). Patients in the comparator arm start with surgery followed by 12 cycles of adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. The primary outcome is overall survival by intention-to-treat. Secondary outcomes include progression-free survival, resection rate, quality of life, adverse events, and surgical complications. To detect a hazard ratio of 0.70 with 80% power, 252 events are needed. The number of events is expected to be reached after the inclusion of 378 patients in 36 months, with analysis planned 18 months after the last patient has been randomized.

DISCUSSION

The multicenter PREOPANC-3 trial compares perioperative mFOLFIRINOX with adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinical Trials: NCT04927780. Registered June 16, 2021.

Multicentre study of multidisciplinary team assessment of pancreatic cancer resectability and treatment allocation

BACKGROUND

Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings have been adopted widely to ensure optimal treatment for patients with cancer. Agreements in tumour staging, resectability assessments and treatment allocation between different MDTs were assessed.

METHODS

Of all patients referred to one hospital, 19 patients considered to have non-metastatic pancreatic cancer for evaluation were selected randomly for a multicentre study of MDT decisions in seven units across Northern Europe. Anonymized clinical information and radiological images were disseminated to the MDTs. All patients were reviewed by the MDTs for radiological T, N and M category, resectability assessment and treatment allocation. Each MDT was blinded to the decisions of other teams. Agreements were expressed as raw percentages and Krippendorff's α values, both with 95 per cent confidence intervals.

RESULTS

A total of 132 evaluations in 19 patients were carried out by the seven MDTs (1 evaluation was excluded owing to technical problems). The level of agreement for T, N and M categories ranged from moderate to near perfect (46·8, 61·1 and 82·8 per cent respectively), but there was substantial variation in assessment of resectability; seven patients were considered to be resectable by one MDT but unresectable by another. The MDTs all agreed on either a curative or palliative strategy in less than half of the patients (9 of 19). Only fair agreement in treatment allocation was observed (Krippendorff's α 0·31, 95 per cent c.i. 0·16 to 0·45). There was a high level of agreement in treatment allocation where resectability assessments were concordant.

CONCLUSION

Considerable disparities in MDT evaluations of patients with pancreatic cancer exist, including substantial variation in resectability assessments.

Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms of The Pancreas: A Nationwide Registry-Based Study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:

To investigate the paraclinical and pathological features of surgically resected intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms in Sweden.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A review of prospectively collected data on patients undergoing pancreatic resection for a histopathologically verified intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm between 2010 and 2016 was performed using the Swedish National Registry for Pancreatic and Periampullary Cancer.

RESULTS:

A total of 3038 pancreatic resections were performed during the study period, of which 251 (8.3%) were due to intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. The intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm cases comprised 227 noninvasive and 24 invasive lesions. There was an annual increase in the number of resected intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, from 13 in 2010 to 56 in 2016, and an increase in the proportion of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm to the total number of pancreatic resections (4.7%-11%). Biliary obstruction was the only independent predictor of invasive disease, with odds ratio 3.106 (p = 0.030). There was no difference in survival between low-, intermediate-, and high-grade dysplastic lesions (p = 0.417). However, once invasive, the prognosis was severely impacted (p < 0.001). Three-year survival was 90% for noninvasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm and 39% for invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm. Survival was better in lymph node negative invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (p = 0.021), but still dismal compared to noninvasive lesions (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION:

The number of surgically resected intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms is increasing in Sweden. Biliary obstruction is associated with invasive disease. Low-to-high-grade dysplastic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm has an excellent prognosis, while invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm has a poor survival rate.