A patient with pancreatic cancer and multiple liver metastases after total pancreatectomy who showed a partial response to combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and UFT

摘要

A 69-year-old man underwent a complete pancreatectomy in March 2002 because of cancer of the body of the pancreas. Two months after surgery, the patient had multiple metastases to the liver, abdominal recurrence, and an elevated cancer antigen (CA) 19-9 level. Combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and UFT was administered on an outpatient basis. Chemotherapy consisted of biweekly gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m(2)) and daily UFT (300 mg). After 3 months of treatment, a computed tomographic scan of the liver showed marked shrinkage of metastatic lesions, accompanied by a decrease in the CA19-9 level. The patient spent most of his time at home and worked as usual; his quality of life was maintained. The only adverse event was transient leukopenia (grade 2). He died of peritoneal dissemination in August 2003 (15 months after recurrence). Our experience suggests that combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and UFT may promote tumor dormancy and relieve symptoms in patients with liver metastasis after surgeryfor pancreatic cancer or with recurrence of metastasis.