Flashback Foreword: Erlotinib and Gemcitabine in Pancreatic Cancer

Article Tools FLASHBACK FOREWORD Article Tools OPTIONS & TOOLS Export Citation Track Citation Add To Favorites Rights & Permissions COMPANION ARTICLES JCO Flashback: A Comparison of Erlotinib Plus Gemcitabine vs Gemcitabine Alone in Treating Advanced Pancreatic Cancer (2007). October 17, 2023 Erlotinib Plus Gemcitabine Compared With Gemcitabine Alone in Patients With Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Phase III Trial of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group. October 17, 2023 ARTICLE CITATION DOI: 10.1200/JCO.23.00222 Journal of Clinical Oncology - published online before print October 17, 2023 PMID: 37847994 Flashback Foreword: Erlotinib and Gemcitabine in Pancreatic Cancer Andrew H. Ko, MD, FASCO1,2xAndrew H. KoSearch for articles by this author Show More 1Associate Editor, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alexandria, VA2University of California San Francisco Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.23.00222 First Page Full Text PDF Figures and Tables © 2023 by American Society of Clinical OncologyTHE TAKEAWAYIn 2007, Moore et al1 published results of a randomized phase III trial, which demonstrated a statistically significant survival benefit from the addition of erlotinib, an oral antiepidermal growth factor receptor, to gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The positive study result was a rarity among phase III trials conducted in pancreatic cancer during that era and led to US Food and Drug Administration approval of erlotinib for this disease indication. Although this regimen has since largely been supplanted by other chemotherapy combinations with greater efficacy, this study was of considerable impact and interest at the time, providing an important proof of principle regarding the promise of targeted therapies for a notoriously difficult-to-treat disease. Companion JCO Flashback: A Comparison of Erlotinib Plus Gemcitabine vs Gemcitabine Alone in Treating Advanced Pancreatic Cancer (2007) Erlotinib Plus Gemcitabine Compared With Gemcitabine Alone in Patients With Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Phase III Trial of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group