Gemcitabine, Cisplatin and Nab-Paclitaxel as Neoadjuvant Treatment for Patients With Resectable or Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer

A Single-Arm Phase II Clinical Trial of Gemcitabine, Cisplatin, and Nab-Paclitaxel as Neoadjuvant Therapy for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

This phase II trial tests how well gemcitabine, cisplatin and nab-paclitaxel given before surgery (neoadjuvant) works in treating patients with pancreatic cancer that can be removed by surgery (resectable) or that is borderline resectable. The standard treatment for resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer is a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. Neoadjuvant therapy is more feasible and could improve outcomes compared to patients receiving surgery first. Gemcitabine is a chemotherapy drug that blocks the cells from making DNA and may kill tumor cells. Cisplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of tumor cells. Nab-paclitaxel is an albumin-stabilized nanoparticle formulation of paclitaxel, an antimicrotubule agent that stops tumor cells from growing and dividing and may kill them. Nab-paclitaxel may have fewer side effects and work better than other forms of paclitaxel. Gemcitabine, cisplatin and nab-paclitaxel may be an effective neoadjuvant treatment option for patients with resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Stage II Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8; Stage III Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8; Stage I Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8; Resectable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma; Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Drug: Cisplatin; Drug: Gemcitabine; Drug: Nab-paclitaxel; Procedure: Computed Tomography; Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Procedure: Biopsy; Procedure: Pancreatic Surgical Procedure

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. Determine the major pathological response rate, feasibility and safety of biweekly gemcitabine, cisplatin and nab-paclitaxel (GCN) in the neoadjuvant setting for patients with resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

I. Determine if neoadjuvant GCN increases tumoral infiltration of lymphocytes with local and systemic phenotypic features that assist in the antitumor immune response.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive nab-paclitaxel intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes, cisplatin IV over 60 minutes, and gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 15 of each cycle. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 4 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with stable disease, partial or complete response undergo surgical resection per standard of care. Additionally, patients undergo biopsy on study and undergo blood sample collection and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at pre-study and on study.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3-4 months for up to 24 months.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 36
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Hussein M. Hamad, MD, MPH; Phone Number: 404-778-3307; Email: hussein.hamad@emory.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Georgia
    • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
      • Recruiting
      • Emory University Hospital/Winship Cancer Institute
      • Contact: Kathleen M. Coleman; Email: kathleen.marie.coleman@emory.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Hussein Hamad, MD, MPH

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed - resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

  • Resectability will be defined as per National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines using cross-sectional imaging (contrast-enhanced computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans of the abdomen, and pelvis)
  • Decisions about resectability status will be made in consensus at multidisciplinary meetings/discussions

Resectable disease will be defined as:

• No interface of the tumor with celiac artery, common hepatic artery (CHA), or superior mesenteric arteries (SMA) (and, if present, variants)
• Less than 180° interface between tumor and vessel wall of the portal or superior mesenteric veins (SMV) without vein contour irregularity
• For tumors of the body and tail of the pancreas, interface with the splenic artery and splenic vein of any degree will be considered resectable disease

Borderline resectable disease will be defined as:

• To include at least one of the following:

  • Tumor abutment < 180° of the superior mesenteric artery or celiac axis
  • Solid tumor contact with CHA without extension to celiac artery (CA) or hepatic artery bifurcation allowing for safe and complete resection and reconstruction
  • Solid tumor contact with variant arterial anatomy (ex: accessory right hepatic artery, replaced right hepatic artery, replaced CHA, and the origin of replaced or accessory artery)
  • Tumor induced narrowing of SMV, portal vein (PV) or SMV-PV of > 180˚ of the diameter of the vessel
  • Short segment occlusion of the SMV, PV or SMV-PV with a suitable PV above and SMV below, for reconstruction
  • Solid tumor contact with inferior vena cava

  • Biopsy proven N1 disease (regional lymph nodes involved) from pre-referral biopsy or endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA)

    • No distant extrapancreatic disease (M0)
    • Adults > 18 years of age
    • Able to give informed consent
    • Able to adhere to study visit schedule and other protocol requirements
    • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 - 1
    • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1,500 cells/ul
    • Platelet count ≥ 100,000 cells/ul
    • Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL
    • Serum total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN)
    • Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 x ULN
    • Albumin ≥ 3 g/dl
    • Creatinine ≤ 1.5 x ULN
    • Male, or a non-pregnant and non-lactating female
    • Women of child-bearing potential - defined as a sexually mature woman who has not undergone hysterectomy - the surgical removal of the uterus or bilateral oophorectomy - the surgical removal of both ovaries or has not been naturally postmenopausal for at least 24 consecutive months, i.e., has had menses at any time during the preceding 24 consecutive months, must commit to true abstinence from heterosexual contact, or agree to use, and be able to comply with, effective contraception without interruption for 28 days prior to starting gemcitabine/cisplatin/nab- paclitaxel (including dose interruptions) until treatment with gemcitabine/cisplatin/nab-paclitaxel is complete
    • Male subjects must practice true abstinence or agree to use a condom during sexual contact with a female of childbearing potential or a pregnant female while on treatment (including during dose interruptions) with gemcitabine/cisplatin/nab-paclitaxel and for 6 months following gemcitabine/cisplatin/nab- paclitaxel discontinuation, even if he has undergone a successful vasectomy

Exclusion Criteria:

• Peripheral neuropathy of grade 2 or greater by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) 4.0. In CTCAE version 4.0 grade 2 sensory neuropathy is defined as "moderate symptoms; limiting instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs)"
• Concurrent severe and/or uncontrolled medical conditions which could compromise participation in the study such as unstable angina, myocardial infarction within 6 months, unstable symptomatic arrhythmia, symptomatic congestive heart failure, uncontrolled diabetes, serious active, uncontrolled infection after inadequate biliary drainage if tumor obstructing bile duct, or psychiatric illness/social situations
• Pregnancy (positive pregnancy test) or lactation
• Known central nervous system (CNS) disease, except for treated brain metastasis. Treated brain metastases are defined as having no evidence of progression or hemorrhage after treatment and no ongoing requirement for dexamethasone, as ascertained by clinical examination and brain imaging (MRI or CT) during the screening period. Anticonvulsants (stable dose) are allowed. Treatment for brain metastases may include whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), radiosurgery (radiosurgery [RS]; Gamma Knife, linear accelerator [LINAC], or equivalent) or a combination as deemed appropriate by the treating physician. Patients with CNS metastases treated by neurosurgical resection or brain biopsy performed within 3 months prior to day 1 will be excluded
• Previous (within the past 5 years) or concurrent presence of other untreated cancer, except nonmelanoma skin cancer and in situ carcinomas
• History of allergy or hypersensitivity to any of the study drugs
• Current abuse of alcohol or illicit drugs
• Inability or unwillingness to sign the informed consent form

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Treatment (nab-paclitaxel, cisplatin, gemcitabine); Patients receive nab-paclitaxel IV over 30 minutes, cisplatin IV over 60 minutes, and gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 15 of each cycle. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 4 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients with stable disease, partial or complete response undergo surgical resection per standard of care. Additionally, patients undergo biopsy on study and undergo blood sample collection and CT or MRI at pre-study and on study.

Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Undergo MRI; Other Names: MRI; Magnetic Resonance; Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan; Medical Imaging, Magnetic Resonance / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; MR; MR Imaging; MRI Scan; NMR Imaging; NMRI; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI); sMRI; Magnetic resonance imaging (procedure); MRIs; Structural MRI; Drug: Cisplatin; Given IV; Other Names: CDDP; Cis-diamminedichloridoplatinum; Cismaplat; Cisplatinum; Neoplatin; Platinol; Abiplatin; Blastolem; Briplatin; Cis-diammine-dichloroplatinum; Cis-diamminedichloro Platinum (II); Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum; Cis-dichloroammine Platinum (II); Cis-platinous Diamine Dichloride; Cis-platinum; Cis-platinum II; Cis-platinum II Diamine Dichloride; Cisplatina; Cisplatyl; Citoplatino; Citosin; Cysplatyna; DDP; Lederplatin; Metaplatin; Peyrone's Chloride; Peyrone's Salt; Placis; Plastistil; Platamine; Platiblastin; Platiblastin-S; Platinex; Platinol- AQ; Platinol-AQ; Platinol-AQ VHA Plus; Platinoxan; Platinum; Platinum Diamminodichloride; Platiran; Platistin; Platosin; Drug: Gemcitabine; Given IV; Other Names: dFdCyd; dFdC; Difluorodeoxycytidine; Drug: Nab-paclitaxel; Given IV; Other Names: ABI-007; Abraxane; Albumin-bound Paclitaxel; ABI 007; Albumin-Stabilized Nanoparticle Paclitaxel; Nanoparticle Albumin-bound Paclitaxel; Nanoparticle Paclitaxel; Paclitaxel Albumin; paclitaxel albumin-stabilized nanoparticle formulation; Protein-bound Paclitaxel; Paclitaxel Protein-Bound; Paclitaxel Nanoparticle Albumin-bound; Procedure: Computed Tomography; Undergo CT; Other Names: CT; CAT; CAT Scan; Computed Axial Tomography; Computerized Axial Tomography; Computerized Tomography; CT Scan; tomography; Computerized axial tomography (procedure); Computerized Tomography (CT) scan; Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Undergo blood sample collection; Other Names: Biological Sample Collection; Biospecimen Collected; Specimen Collection; Procedure: Biopsy; Undergo biopsy; Other Names: Bx; BIOPSY_TYPE; Procedure: Pancreatic Surgical Procedure; Undergo surgical resection; Other Names: Pancreatic Surgery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Clinical Response Rate to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy	Clinical response is defined as biochemical, radiological, pathological response or stable disease. • Biochemical response (or CA 19-9 response) is defined as >50% decrease from baseline with tumor response. Radiologic response is defined as complete response (CR), partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) after the neoadjuvant therapy per RECIST 1.1. Pathologic response is defined by CAP scoring system as 0 (complete response), 1 (moderate response), 2 (minimal response) and 3 (poor or no response). Stable disease is defined as the absence of biochemical response (>50% CA 19-9 reduction), radiological response (per RECIST 1.1), or major pathological response (CAP Score 0-1), without metastasis / unresectability, and patient undergoes surgical resection. Clinical response rate (including clinical, biochemical, radiological, pathological response or stable disease) will be reported as a proportion, with an exact 90% confidence interval estimated using the Clopper-Pearson method.	Up to 24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Treatment Completion	Feasibility will be defined as completion of all preoperative and operative therapy. Treatment completion will reported as a proportion, with an exact 95% confidence interval estimated using the Clopper-Pearson method.	Up to 24 months
Incidence of Adverse Events (AEs)	AEs, with severity will be graded using National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. Descriptive statistics will be reported, using frequencies and percentages for each toxicity.	Up to 28 days after last dose of study treatment
Radiologic Response Rate	Radiological response rate will be defined as complete response, partial response or stable disease after study treatment evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. Radiologic response rate will be reported as a proportion, with an exact 95% confidence interval estimated using the Clopper-Pearson method.	Up to 24 months
Pathological Response Rate	To assess the major pathological response rate (CAP 0-1) in the surgical resection specimen	Up to 24 months
Neoadjuvant Systemic Chemotherapy Rate	To assess the rate of neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy completion (Duration 4 months) without dose reduction	Up to 4 months
R0 Resection Rate	R0 resection indicates a microscopically margin-negative resection. R0 resection rate will reported as a proportion, with an exact 95% confidence interval estimated using the Clopper-Pearson method.	At time of surgery
Nodal Status	N0, N1, and N2 will be reported using frequencies and percentages.	Up to 24 months
Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS)	RFS will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and a 95% confidence interval for median RFS will be estimated using the Brookmeyer-Crowley approach.	From surgery to recurrence or death, assessed up to 24 months
Overall Survival (OS) Rate	OS will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and median survival will be calculated. A 95% confidence interval will be estimated using the Brookmeyer-Crowley approach.	From study treatment start to date of death, assessed up to 24 months
Carbohydrate Antigen (CA)19-9 response	CA19-9 response will be defined as > 50% decrease from baseline will be correlated with tumor response. CA19-9 will be reported as a proportion, with an exact 95% confidence interval estimated using the Clopper-Pearson method. CA19-9 will be correlated with RFS and OS using log-rank tests and Cox proportional hazards regression. Model assumptions will be checked and verified.	Up to 24 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Emory University
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI); National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hussein M Hamad, MD, MPH, Emory University Hospital/Winship Cancer Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 6, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 10, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 16, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): May 21, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 22, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Endocrine System Diseases; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Endocrine Gland Neoplasms; Pancreatic Diseases; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Proteins; Organic Chemicals; Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds; Investigative Techniques; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Surgical Procedures, Operative; Cytological Techniques; Cytodiagnosis; Hydrocarbons; Cycloparaffins; Hydrocarbons, Alicyclic; Hydrocarbons, Cyclic; Terpenes; Inorganic Chemicals; Chlorine Compounds; Nitrogen Compounds; Taxoids; Cyclodecanes; Diterpenes; Deoxycytidine; Cytidine; Pyrimidine Nucleosides; Pyrimidines; Elements; Metals; Health Care Economics and Organizations; Diagnostic Techniques, Surgical; Chemistry Techniques, Analytical; Spectrum Analysis; Metals, Heavy; Platinum Compounds; Transition Elements; Albumins; Paclitaxel; Economics; Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel; Gemcitabine; Cisplatin; 1,2-diaminocyclohexaneplatinum II citrate; Biopsy; Specimen Handling; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Platinum; 130-nm albumin-bound paclitaxel; Taxes
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00006976 (Other Identifier: Emory University Hospital/Winship Cancer Institute); P30CA138292 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); NCI-2024-02082 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); WINSHIP6093-23 (Other Identifier: Emory University Hospital/Winship Cancer Institute)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No