Progress report: A randomized multicenter European study comparing adjuvant radiotherapy, 6-Mo chemotherapy and combination therapy vs no- adjuvant treatment in resectable pancreatic cancer (ESPAC-1)

Conclusion. The ESPAC-1 trial is the largest study of its kind in pancreatic cancer and should definitively address the question of the role of conventional methods of adjuvant treatment in pancreatic cancer. Background. At the joint International Association of Pancreatology and the European Pancreatic Club meeting in Mannheim, Germany (June 12-15, 1996) a satellite meeting of the European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC) met to discuss the progress of the ESPAC-1 trial. Methods. A randomized multicenter study to address which, if any, of the following adjuvant treatments are of benefit in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer: radiotherapy (40 Gy with 5-FU as a sensitizing agent), 6 mo of chemotherapy (5-FU and folinic acid), or a combination of these treatments. Results. From February 1994 to June 1996 (the time of the Mannheim meeting) 221 patients so far have been recruited into the three treatment arms and one control arm.