Gemcitabine Plus Albumin-bound Paclitaxel In Patients With Advanced Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

Albumin-bound paclitaxel is a novel, solvent-free, albumin-bound, 130 nanometer particle form of paclitaxel designed to avoid the problems associated with solvents used in Taxol(Abraxane prescribing information 2005). Albumin has a number of properties that make it an attractive molecule to combine with paclitaxel. Albumin is a natural transporter of endogenous hydrophobic molecules such as water-insoluble vitamins and hormones (Vorum 1999)and albumin binding to the gp-60 receptor (albondin) initiates the caveolae-mediated endothelial transport of protein-bound and unbound plasma constituents (John et al 2003, Minshall et al 2003, Tiruppathi et al 1997). This study consisted of a Phase 1 dose escalation phase, a Phase 2 treatment phase and a 24-month follow-up phase.