Treatment of duct carcinoma of the pancreas with the LH-RH analogue buserelin.

Thirty-six patients (21 male, 15 female) with ductal pancreatic cancer were treated with the long-acting synthetic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH) analogue buserelin. All patients had advanced tumor stages (stage II: 7 patients; stage III: 11 patients; stage IV: 18 patients). A monthly follow-up including clinical status, computed tomography scan, or ultrasonography and the tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and H carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) was carried out. There were no severe side effects apart from impotency in men and hot flashes and outbreaks of perspiration in three patients. No partial or complete remission was seen. Twenty-six patients showed tumor progression with a median survival time of 4 months (range 0.5-11 months). In 10 patients a "no change" evaluation with a median survival time of 10 months (range 8-17 months) was registered. In only two of these patients there was no increase in the serum tumor markers CA19-9 and CEA during this time. In conclusion, LH-RH analogue treatment cannot be recommended in this selected group of patients suffering from advanced tumor stages of pancreatic cancer.