Neoadjuvant Modified FOLFIRINOX in Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The 5-year survival rate in overall patients is less than 6% due to late clinical manifestation and the systemic nature of the disease at presentation. Even in patients with resectable disease, estimated 5-year survival rates after resection are between 15% and 20%. Traditionally, resection alone is regarded as inadequate for cure. Therefore, systemic and/or combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy have been used as preoperative or postoperative therapy. Neoadjuvant treatment offers several theoretical advantages over an initial resection. Early delivery of systemic therapy for all patients which might lead to the higher rates of negative margin resection rate, and enhanced patient selection for surgery. Although neoadjuvant treatment has been established as a standard of care for resectable or locally advanced disease of breast, gastric, and rectal cancers, the role of neoadjuvant treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer is not clear at present. There is no global consensus on the management of patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer. If initially resected, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy is standard. However, there is no standard regimen for neoadjuvant chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Recent pivotal phase 2/3 trial has demonstrated that FOLFIRINOX improved the response rates and survival outcomes of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer compared to gemcitabine. Because of higher response rates (about 30%) with FOLFIRINOX, this regimen is now widely investigated in the neoadjuvant setting. Therefore, investigators hypothesize that neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX may enhance the outcomes of patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer. This study will assess the feasibility and efficacy outcomes of neoadjuvant modified FOLFIRINOX and postoperative gemcitabine in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer.