Published online May 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i20.6384
Peer-review started: December 9, 2014
First decision: January 8, 2015
Revised: February 7, 2015
Accepted: March 18, 2015
Article in press: March 19, 2015
Published online: May 28, 2015
Processing time: 172 Days and 18.3 Hours
Patients with metastasized carcinoma of the pancreas have a very poor prognosis, and long-term survival cannot be expected. This case report describes two patients with an initial diagnosis of metastatic pancreatic cancer, both with hepatic metastases and one with an additional peritoneal carcinomatosis. Initially, both patients were treated intravenously with the FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy regimen, consisting of 5-FU, folinic acid, irinotecan and oxaliplatin. Surprisingly, the FOLFIRINOX treatment resulted in complete resolution of the hepatic metastases in both patients, with no lesions detectable by computed tomography scan. Furthermore, treatment response included decreased diameter of the primary tumor in the tail of the pancreas and disappearance of the additional peritoneal carcinomatosis. Both patients were discussed by our multidisciplinary tumor board, which recommended surgical resections of the carcinoma. The R0 resection of the primary tumor was successful in both cases and, interestingly, the resected tissues showed no evidence of the hepatic metastases intraoperatively. In the first case, the patient received a postoperative 6-mo course of adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine. In the second case, the patient continued to receive the FOLFIRINOX regimen for an additional 6 mo postoperatively. At 12 mo after the operation, a nonresectable retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis was detected in the first patient, whereas the second patient remained in complete remission at the time of this report (5 mo after the adjuvant therapy was discontinued). This case report is the first of its kind to describe two cases of hepatic metastatic pancreatic carcinoma that were resectable following treatment with FOLFIRINOX. Further studies are required to examine the role of FOLFIRINOX as a neoadjuvant treatment option in subgroups of patients with initially metastasized pancreatic carcinoma.
Core tip: The FOLFIRINOX regimen is a promising treatment option for metastatic pancreatic carcinoma. This case report describes two cases in which treating metastatic pancreatic carcinoma with neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX therapy prior to R0 resection was possible. The positive outcomes for these patients provide hope that metastatic pancreatic neoplasms may be cured in certain cases.