A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy With Capecitabine, . . .

Surgical resection remains the standard procedure for patients with localized resectable pancreatic cancer. Neoadjuvant or preoperative therapy with chemotherapy and radiation therapy has been proposed as an alternative approach in patients with localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Advantages are: 1) early start of systemic therapy targeting micrometastatic disease; 2) increased compliance with chemoradiotherapy; 3) increase primary tumor complete resection rates; 4) avoidance of surgery in patients with rapidly developing metastatic disease; and 5) importantly, it provides an important resource for research in terms of tissue acquisition before and after therapy . Finally, this is an opportunity to test the safety and efficacy of a novel combination of weekly panitumumab, oral capecitabine and radiation in pancreatic cancer.