The aim of this research project is to determine the amount of capecitabine (Xeloda) which can be given safely with PHY906 (investigational drug) on a novel schedule. It is also the aim of this research project to determine what the effects, good and/or bad, are of combining capecitabine (Xeloda) with PHY906 (investigational drug) in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. PHY906 is a powder from plants sold as a health food supplement in the United States. PHY906 has been used in China, Taiwan and other Asian countries as traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years. The other drug involved in this study, capecitabine is an oral form of chemotherapy already approved by FDA in the management of colorectal and breast cancer. Laboratory studies in animal models have shown that the combination of capecitabine and PHY906 shrinks liver cancer, and a pilot clinical study is currently evaluating this combination in patients with liver cancer to define the benefit. PHY906 has also shown to decrease diarrhea related to chemotherapy in a small study performed in patients with colon cancer treated at the Yale Cancer Center. Our recent laboratory studies have also shown that the combination of capecitabine and PHY906 also shrink pancreatic tumors in mouse models. This prompted us to test the combination of capecitabine and PHY906 in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer to assess the benefit in survival as well as any decrease in side effects, such as diarrhea caused by capecitabine.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
25
Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center at Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Median Progression Free Survival
Progression is defined using Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0), as a 20% increase in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions, or a measurable increase in a non-target lesion, or the appearance of new lesions
Time frame: Up to 100 weeks
Median Overall Survival
Progression is defined using Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0), as a 20% increase in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions, or a measurable increase in a non-target lesion, or the appearance of new lesions
Time frame: Up to 100 weeks
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