Study of Nab-Paclitaxel and Gemcitabine With or Without Tocilizumab in Pancreatic Cancer Patients

The development of new effective treatment strategies remains a major challenge in patients with PC. High levels of IL-6 and presence of a systemic inflammatory response in PC patients have been reported to correlate with worse survival. Preclinical PC models have clearly shown that anti-IL-6-receptor antibody tocilizumab in combination with chemotherapy reduced tumor growth, number of distant metastases and the local recurrence rate. Thus, blockade of IL-6-regulated signaling pathways represents a promising approach in combination with chemotherapy. Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) alone or in combination with hypoalbuminaemia (Modified Glasgow Prognostic Score - mGPS) are induced by IL-6 and could feasibly represent surrogate markers for IL-6 bioactivity to stratify patients likely to gain benefit through targeting IL-6.