（法新社芝加哥4日綜合外電報導）根據今天在美國臨床腫瘤學會芝加哥年會發表的歐洲研究報告，結合兩種化療藥，在治療胰臟癌上出現令人鼓舞的結果，大舉改善5年存活率。學者稱這項發現為重大勝利。 根據取自732名患者的數據，患者在開刀切除胰臟癌後，以口服化療藥物capecitabine搭配胰臟癌第一線標準治療藥物gemcitabine，長期存活率可從16%升至29%。 美國凱斯西儲大學（Case Western Reserve University）的克里希納瑪迪（Smitha Krishnamurthi）說：「胰臟癌仍屬治療難度最高的癌症之一。增加1項一般化療不僅改善患者存活率，還不大影響患者生活品質，這項發現實屬重大勝利。」 克里希納瑪迪並沒有參與研究。 研究主筆、英國利物浦大學（University of Liverpool）的尼奧塔勒莫斯（John Neoptolemos）說，儘管診斷出胰臟癌的患者大多並非手術人選，這份研究報告顯示，可以接受手術的患者「有很好的機會可以透過2種常見化療藥來打擊癌症」。
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Two-drug regimen shows promise against pancreatic cancer
Axial CT image with i.v. contrast. Macrocystic adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. Credit: public domain
A combination of two chemotherapy drugs has shown promising results in fighting pancreatic cancer, significantly improving five-year survival rates, according to a European study presented Friday.
The trial showed that patients who take the oral drug capecitabine in addition to treatment with the commonly-used intravenous drug gemcitabine after surgical removal ofpancreatic cancer survived longer without significant increase in negative side effects.
It was one of the largest trials ever conducted in pancreatic cancer, involving 732 patients.
The study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting, the world's largest conference on cancer, currently being held in Chicago.
"Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most hard-to-treat cancers. It is a major win to find that adding a generic chemotherapy not only improves survival for these patients, but does so with little effect on patients' quality of life," said Smitha Krishnamurthi of Case Western Reserve University, who was not a part of the study.
Although most people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are not candidates for surgery, the findings show that those who can have surgery "have a fighting chance of surviving this cancer with the combination of two commonly used chemotherapies," said John Neoptolemos, the study's lead author of the University of Liverpool in Britain.
The study showed a five-year survival rate of 28.8 percent among the group treated with both capecitabine and gemcitabine for six months, compared with 16.3 percent for the group that received gemcitabine alone during that time.
The median overall survival rate was 28 months with the combination of drugs, compared to 25.5 months with gemcitabine alone.
"The difference in median survival may seem modest, but the improvement in long-term survival is substantial for this cancer," Neoptolemos said in a statement.
The study's determination that the gemcitabine-capecitabine treatment is safe allows researchers to consider what other treatments could be added effectively.
According to the World Health Organization, 338,000 people in the world were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2012, with the highest number of cases in North America and Europe.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, with 41,780 deaths expected in 2016.
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