Second line therapy for advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma: where are we and where are we going? Highlights from the "2010 ASCO Annual Meeting". Chicago, IL, USA. June 4-8, 2010.

Most patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas present with locally advanced or metastatic disease. Although single agent gemcitabine is widely accepted as first-line therapy, there is no current standard of care for gemcitabine-refractory patients. Common second-line chemotherapy regimens included oxaliplatin and 5-FU/leucovorin (OFF), gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX), oxaliplatin and capecitabine (XELOX), and irinotecan-oxaliplatin. At the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, several new second-line chemotherapy regimens were presented, including gemcitabine and oxaliplatin with imatinib, single agent nab-paclitaxel, and the combination of high-dose capecitabine with oxaliplatin and sorafenib. These abstracts provide exciting new directions for the treatment of gemcitabine-refractory advanced pancreatic cancer.