Capecitabine and Docetaxel in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Progressive Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

OBJECTIVES: Primary * Determine the overall (complete and partial) response rate in patients with recurrent or progressive metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with capecitabine and docetaxel. Secondary * Determine the overall and progression-free survival of patients treated with the chemotherapy combination. * Determine the duration of response (complete or partial) among patients who attain a response. * Determine the frequency of patients having \> 50% fall of CA19-9 from an initial level of \> 100 U/mL in association with treatment with this regimen. * Evaluate the toxicity associated with the administration of the combination in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, open-label, nonrandomized study. Patients receive oral capecitabine twice daily on days 1-14 and docetaxel IV over 1 hour on days 1 and 8. Treatment repeats every 3 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for up to 1 year. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 45 patients will be accrued for this study.