Gemcitabine, Capecitabine, and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

OBJECTIVES: * To evaluate the activity, safety, and feasibility of induction chemotherapy comprising gemcitabine and capecitabine followed by two different schedules of chemoradiotherapy comprising gemcitabine or capecitabine and radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced, nonmetastatic, unresectable pancreatic cancer. * To determine which of the two experimental arms gives the highest generic and disease-specific aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQL) following treatment. * To determine how HRQL varies during treatment and follow up in both arms. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. All patients receive a first induction therapy comprising gemcitabine IV on days 1, 8, and 15 and oral capecitabine twice daily on days 1-21. Treatment repeats every 28 days for 3 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Following the first induction therapy, patients with a WHO performance status of 0-1 who are responding or have stable disease that can be encompassed within a radically treatable radiotherapy volume are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm I: * Second induction therapy (weeks 13-16): Patients receive gemcitabine IV once daily on days 1, 8, and 15 and oral capecitabine twice daily on days 1-21. * Chemoradiotherapy (weeks 17-22): Patients receive gemcitabine IV once weekly on day 1 and undergo conformal radiotherapy 5 days a week for 5.5 weeks. * Arm II: * Second induction therapy (weeks 13-16): Patients receive gemcitabine IV once daily on days 1, 8, and 15 and oral capecitabine twice daily on days 1-21. * Chemoradiotherapy (weeks 17-22): Patients receive oral capecitabine twice daily on days 1-5 and undergo conformal radiotherapy 5 days a week for 5.5 weeks. Patients complete quality-of-life questionnaires QLQ-C30 and PAN26 at baseline and at 17, 23, 26, 39, and 52 weeks. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months.