Ca 19.9 as an early predictor of response to first- and second-line treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer

Current Treatment Options for Pancreatic Carcinoma

“…One retrospective study of 181 patients with advanced pancreas cancer treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy found that patients with a decrease of at least 20% in CA19-9 level after 8 weeks of therapy had an improved OS of 35 weeks compared to 50 weeks in patients with stabilization or increase in CA19-9 levels (P=0.003) [21]. These findings were supported by another retrospective review of 96 patients with advanced pancreas cancer which found that an early increase in CA19-9 level>20% from baseline was associated with a higher rate of progressive disease in first-line (68.7% vs 40%, P=0.0157) and second-line (86.4% vs 59.4%, P=0.037) treatment, and worsened OS (5.3 vs 10.2 months, P=0.001 for first-line treatment; 7.9 vs 4.1 months, P=0.0009 for second-line) [18]. Another study of 143 patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer found that patients with at least a 50% decline in CA19-9 level had improved OS (P=0.01).…”

“…Elevated pretreatment [17][18][19] and post-treatment [20] CA19-9 levels have been correlated with worsened overall survival (OS) in metastatic and locally advanced pancreas cancer. Changes in CA19-9 levels during treatment have also garnered interest.…”