RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF UKRAIN TREATMENT IN 28 PATIENTS WITH UNRESECTABLE PANCREATIC CANCER

ASCHHOFF B.

Villa Medica Clinic, Edenkoben, Germany.

Address for correspondence: B. Aschhoff, Villa Medica Clinic, Klosterstrasse 179, D-67480 Edenkoben, Germany.

Summary: A total of 28 patients (17 male, 11 female: aged 48-74 years; mean age 49.6 years) with pancre­atic adenocarcinoma, were treated with Ukrain between August 1997 and December 2003 in our clinic. All the patients presented with advanced and/or metastatic disease that made curable radical surgery impossible. Twenty-one patients had previously been treated with 5-fluorouracil or gemcitabine, but due to disease pro­gression, this therapy was discontinued. Seven patients rejected conventional chemotherapeutic modalities. Ukrain was administered at a dose of 20 mg three times a week for the first 3 months (total 3-month dose: 720 mg), and then at a dose of 20 mg once a week for 4 months (total dose: 320 mg). Ukrain was generally well tolerated. Of the 28 patients treated with Ukrain, partial remission was achieved in 24 cases (85.7%), while four patients (14.3%) did not respond to treatment. Twenty-four patients described their quality of life during Ukrain treatment as "good," and all the patients noted improvement in their general condition after treatment with Ukrain. The mean survival of the patients treated with Ukrain was 26.1 months after start of Ukrain administra­tion and 28.0 months after the diagnosis of inoperable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. These data indicate that Ukrain is currently the most promising agent for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.