Cure of unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer after multidisciplinary therapy

The treatment of unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer (ULAPC) is highly challenging as it is considered to be an incurable disease. Our previous studies demonstrated that the combination of gemcitabine, oxaliplatin and 46-h infusion of fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin, the GOFL regimen, is a promising, well-tolerated triplet regimen for locally advanced and recurrent/metastatic pancreatic cancer. Herein, we report a case of ULAPC who remained alive and disease-free for more than five years after a successful, multidisciplinary approach consisting of a 9-month course of induction GOFL, followed by gemcitabine-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and maintenance GOFL, and subsequently radical R0 resection. This case highlights that prolonged multi-agent chemotherapy with consolidation CCRT can be used to select the patients with ULAPC who may be potential candidates for curative-intent resection, and ultimately even lead to a cure for ULAPC.