RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, can block tumor growth in different ways. Some block the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Others find tumor cells and help kill them or carry tumor-killing substances to them. Bevacizumab may also stop the growth of pancreatic cancer by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Giving gemcitabine and bevacizumab after surgery may kill any tumor cells that remain after surgery. PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the side effects of gemcitabine and bevacizumab and to see how well they work in treating patients with pancreatic cancer that has been completely removed by surgery.
OBJECTIVES: Primary * Determine the safety of adjuvant, fixed-dose rate gemcitabine hydrochloride and bevacizumab in patients with completely resected pancreatic cancer. * Determine the 1-year disease-free survival rate in patients treated with this regimen. Secondary * Determine the 1- and 2-year overall survival rates in these patients. * Determine the median disease-free survival rate in these patients. * Determine the median overall survival rate in these patients. OUTLINE: This is an open-label, non-randomized study. Patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 100 minutes followed by bevacizumab\* IV over 30-90 minutes on days 1 and 15. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease recurrence or unacceptable toxicity. NOTE: \*The first dose of bevacizumab is not administered until after 6 weeks have passed since surgery. After completion of study therapy, patients are followed periodically for 18 months. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 20 patients will be accrued for this study.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
20
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
San Francisco, California, United States
Safety of gemcitabine when administered with bevacizumab as assessed by NCI CTCAE v3.0
Disease-free survival rate at 1 year
Overall survival rate at 1 and 2 years
Median disease-free survival rate at 1 and 2 years
Median overall survival rate at 1 and 2 years
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