Testing The Use Of The Usual Chemotherapy Before And After Surgery For Removable Pancreatic Cancer

Study Overview

Testing the Use of the Usual Chemotherapy Before and After Surgery for Removable Pancreatic Cancer

This phase III trial compares perioperative chemotherapy (given before and after surgery) versus adjuvant chemotherapy (given after surgery) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer that can be removed by surgery (removable/resectable). Chemotherapy drugs, such as fluorouracil, irinotecan, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving chemotherapy before and after surgery (perioperatively) may work better in treating patients with pancreatic cancer compared to giving chemotherapy after surgery (adjuvantly).

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate and compare overall survival (OS) in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride, leucovorin calcium and oxaliplatin (modified [m]FOLFIRINOX) and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate and compare disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. II. To evaluate and compare time to locoregional recurrence (TLR) in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. III. To evaluate and compare time to distant metastases (TDM) in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. IV. To evaluate and compare the R0 resection rate in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. V. To evaluate and compare rate of unresectability in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. VI. To evaluate rate of pathologic complete response in patients randomized to the perioperative therapy arm. VII. To evaluate and compare mFOLFIRINOX dose intensity delivered and number of cycles received in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. VIII. To evaluate and compare adverse event profile in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. IX. To compare physical functioning, nausea/vomiting, and diarrhea, as measured with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) between patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma treated with perioperative mFOLFIRINOX and surgery versus up-front surgery followed by adjuvant mFOLFIRINOX. X. To prospectively assess the influence of diet, body mass index, weight loss, physical activity, and other lifestyle habits on the disease-free survival and overall survival among patients with localized pancreatic cancers. XI. To assess the influence of diet, obesity, physical activity, and other lifestyle habits on the risk of toxicity associated with chemotherapy. XII. To evaluate the ability of computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics in distinguishing post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) fibrosis from viable tumor in patients randomized to the perioperative therapy arm. XIII. To determine whether CT-based radiomics retrieved from baseline examination may act as non-invasive predictors of survival outcome in patients randomized to the adjuvant therapy arm. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms. ARM I: Patients receive oxaliplatin intravenously (IV) over 2 hours, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes, and leucovorin calcium over 2 hours on day 1, and fluorouracil IV over 46-48 hours on days 1-3. Treatment repeats every 14 days for 8 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Within 2-8 weeks of completing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, patients undergo surgical resection. Patients then receive oxaliplatin IV over 2 hours, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes, and leucovorin calcium over 2 hours on day 1, and fluorouracil IV over 46-48 hours on days 1-3. Treatment repeats every 14 days for 4 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. ARM II: Patients undergo surgical resection. Beginning 3-12 weeks after surgery, patients then receive oxaliplatin IV over 2 hours, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes, and leucovorin calcium over 2 hours on day 1, and fluorouracil IV over 46-48 hours on days 1-3. Treatment repeats every 14 days for 12 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for 6 years.

Pancreatic Adenosquamous Carcinoma
Resectable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
Pancreatic Cancer

DRUG: Oxaliplatin
DRUG: Irinotecan Hydrochloride
DRUG: Leucovorin Calcium
DRUG: Fluorouracil
PROCEDURE: Resection
OTHER: Questionnaire Administration

A021806
NCI-2020-01560 (REGISTRY Identifier) (REGISTRY: NCI Clinical Trial Reporting Program)
U10CA180821 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Study Record Dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Registration Dates	Results Reporting Dates	Study Record Updates
First Submitted 2020-04-07	Results First Submitted N/A	Last Update Submitted that met QC Criteria 2025-06-24
First Submitted that Met QC Criteria 2020-04-07	Results First Submitted that Met QC Criteria N/A	Last Update Posted (ACTUAL) 2025-06-26
First Posted (ACTUAL) 2020-04-09	Results First Posted N/A	Last Verified 2025-06

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

Design Details

Primary Purpose:
Treatment

Allocation:
Randomized

Interventional Model:
Parallel

Masking:
None

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group/Arm	Intervention/Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Arm I (perioperative chemotherapy, surgery) Patients receive oxaliplatin intravenously (IV) over 2 hours, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes, and leucovorin calcium over 2 hours on day 1, and fluorouracil IV over 46-48 hours on days 1-3. Treatment repeats every 14 days for 8 cycles in the	DRUG: Oxaliplatin Given IV DRUG: Irinotecan Hydrochloride Given IV DRUG: Leucovorin Calcium Given IV DRUG: Fluorouracil Given IV PROCEDURE: Resection Undergo surgical resection OTHER: Questionnaire Administration Ancillary studies
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Arm II (surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy) Patients undergo surgical resection. Beginning 3-12 weeks after surgery, patients then receive oxaliplatin IV over 2 hours, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes, and leucovorin calcium over 2 hours on day 1, and fluorouracil IV over 46-48 hours on	DRUG: Oxaliplatin Given IV DRUG: Irinotecan Hydrochloride Given IV DRUG: Leucovorin Calcium Given IV DRUG: Fluorouracil Given IV PROCEDURE: Resection Undergo surgical resection OTHER: Questionnaire Administration Ancillary studies

Participant Group/Arm

Intervention/Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL: Arm I (perioperative chemotherapy, surgery)

Patients receive oxaliplatin intravenously (IV) over 2 hours, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes, and leucovorin calcium over 2 hours on day 1, and fluorouracil IV over 46-48 hours on days 1-3. Treatment repeats every 14 days for 8 cycles in the

DRUG: Oxaliplatin

Given IV

DRUG: Irinotecan Hydrochloride

Given IV

DRUG: Leucovorin Calcium

Given IV

DRUG: Fluorouracil

Given IV

PROCEDURE: Resection

Undergo surgical resection

OTHER: Questionnaire Administration

Ancillary studies

ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Arm II (surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy)

Patients undergo surgical resection. Beginning 3-12 weeks after surgery, patients then receive oxaliplatin IV over 2 hours, irinotecan hydrochloride IV over 90 minutes, and leucovorin calcium over 2 hours on day 1, and fluorouracil IV over 46-48 hours on

DRUG: Oxaliplatin

Given IV

DRUG: Irinotecan Hydrochloride

Given IV

DRUG: Leucovorin Calcium

Given IV

DRUG: Fluorouracil

Given IV

PROCEDURE: Resection

Undergo surgical resection

OTHER: Questionnaire Administration

Ancillary studies

Primary Outcome Measures	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall survival (OS)	Overall survival is defined as the time from randomization to death due to any cause. The median and 95% confidence intervals are estimated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. The treatment arms will be compared using a stratified Cox regression model, and hazard ratios from each arm will be estimated.	Time between randomization and death from any cause, assessed up to 6 years.

Secondary Outcome Measures	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disease-free survival (DFS)	Disease-free survival (DFS) is defined as the time from randomization to the date of progression prior to surgery, metastases detected during surgery, recurrence (locoregional and/or distant) after resection, and death due to all causes, whichever occurs first. The median and 95% confidence intervals are estimated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator.	Time between randomization and progression prior to surgery, metastases detected during surgery, recurrence (locoregional and/or distant) after resection, and death due to all causes, assessed up to 6 years.
Time to locoregional recurrence (TLR)	Time to locoregional recurrence (TLR) is defined as the time from randomization to the date of locoregional recurrence after resection. The median and 95% confidence intervals are estimated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator.	Time between randomization and locoregional recurrence after resection, assessed up to 6 years.
Time to distant metastases (TDM)	Time to distant metastases (TDM) is defined as the time from randomization to the date of metastases prior to surgery, metastases detected during surgery, or distant recurrence after resection. The median and 95% confidence intervals are estimated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator.	Time between randomization and metastases prior to surgery, metastases detected during surgery, or distant recurrence after resection, assessed up to 6 years.
R0 resection rate	The rate (percentage) of patients with negative resection margins after undergoing surgery.	At time of surgery.
Rate of unresectability	The rate (percentage) of patients who cannot undergo surgery due to adverse events, progressive disease, death, poor performance, or patient/physician decision, are deemed unresectable before surgery, or resection was not performed during surgery.	At time of surgery or planned time of surgery.
Pathologic complete response (pCR) rate	The rate (percentage) of patients who achieve a pathologic complete response (pCR) confirmed by histopathologic review of the surgical specimen.	At time of surgery.
Incidence of adverse events (AEs), assessed using National Cancer Institute (NCI) common terminology criteria for adverse events (CTCAE) version 5.0 (v5.0)	The maximum grade for each type of adverse event will be recorded for each patient, and frequency tables will be reviewed to determine adverse event patterns within treatment arms and during the following three time points: during perioperative chemotherapy, surgical complications during surgery and post-operative period for 30 days, and during adjuvant chemotherapy.	Up to 2 years.
Fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride, leucovorin calcium, and oxaliplatin (modified [m]FOLFIRINOX) dose intensity delivered	Dose intensity is defined as the percentage of total cumulative dose the patient received divided by the total dose planned per protocol times 100.	8 months
Fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride, leucovorin calcium and oxaliplatin (modified [m]FOLFIRINOX) number of cycles received	The number of cycles received is defined as the total number of cycles that the participant received at least one dose of any agent in mFOLFIRINOX.	8 months
Quality of life as assessed by the physical functioning, nausea/vomiting, and diarrhea subscales in the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30)	Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) is a 30-item questionnaire to assess the overall quality of life in cancer patients. QLQ-C30 includes functional scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional, and social), global health status, symptom scales (fatigue, pain, nausea/vomiting), and other (dyspnoea, appetite loss, insomnia, constipation/diarrhea, and financial difficulties). Most questions used 4-point scale (1 'Not at All' to 4 'Very Much'); 2 questions used 7-point scale (1 'Very Poor' to 7 'Excellent'). Scores are averaged, and transformed to 0-100 scale; higher score=better level of physical functioning, greater occurrence of nausea/vomiting, and greater occurrence of diarrhea.	8 weeks
Influence of diet, body mass index, weight loss, physical activity, and other lifestyle habits on overall survival	Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models will be fit for overall survival (OS) endpoint (defined above) with covariates corresponding to baseline diet and lifestyle questionnaire responses and hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals will be reported.	Time between randomization and death from any cause, assessed up to 6 years.
Influence of diet, body mass index, weight loss, physical activity, and other lifestyle habits on disease-free survival (DFS)	Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models will be fit for disease-free survival (DFS) endpoint (defined above) with covariates corresponding to baseline diet and lifestyle questionnaire responses and hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals will be reported.	Time between randomization and progression prior to surgery, metastases detected during surgery, recurrence (locoregional and/or distant) after resection, and death due to all causes, assessed up to 6 years.
Influence of diet, body mass index, weight loss, physical activity, and other lifestyle habits on the risk of grade 3+ adverse event associated with chemotherapy	Multivariate Logistic models will be fit for the binary endpoint of grade 3+ adverse event (patient experiences at least one grade 3 or higher adverse event during treatment)	Up to 2 years.
The ability of computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics to distinguish post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) fibrosis from viable tumor as measured by comparison to histological evaluation	Comparison between computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics and histological tumor fibrosis proportions will be measured using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.	At time of surgery.
Computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics as non-invasive predictors of overall survival	Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model will be fit for overall survival (OS) endpoint (defined above) with covariates chosen from all available radiomics features using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method with 10-fold cross-validation (CV) and additionally adjusted for clinically important confounders. After the final model is selected the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) will be reported to indicate the prediction performance of the radiomics model.	Time between randomization and death from any cause, assessed up to 6 years.

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Name: Cristina R. Ferrone, MD

Phone Number: 617-643-6189

Email: cferrone@mgh.harvard.edu

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person’s general health condition or prior treatments.

Ages Eligible for Study:
ALL

Sexes Eligible for Study:
18 Years

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Pathology: Histologic or cytologic proof of pancreatic adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma
TNM Stage: Tx-4, N0-1, M0 (M0 disease does not include spread to distant lymph nodes and organs)
Resectable Primary Tumor: Local radiographic reading must be consistent with resectable disease defined as the following on 1) arterial and venous phase contrast-enhanced abdominal/pelvic CT scan or abdominal/pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and 2) chest CT:

No involvement or abutment of the celiac artery, common hepatic artery, superior mesenteric artery, or replaced right hepatic artery (if applicable)
Less than 180 degree interface between tumor and vessel wall of the portal vein or superior mesenteric vein, and patent portal vein/splenic vein confluence
No evidence of metastatic disease
Measurable disease or non-measurable disease o Non-measurable disease is defined as cytologic or histologic confirmation of adenocarcinoma of adenosquamous carcinoma by fine needle aspiration or core-biopsy of the pancreas without measurable disease by radiographic imaging

Confirmation of resectable disease by real-time central imaging review by the Alliance Imaging Core Lab at Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) Ohio
Determined to be appropriate candidate for curative-intent pancreatectomy by surgeon intending to perform the resection
No prior radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, investigational therapy, or surgery for pancreatic cancer
Not pregnant and not nursing, because this study involves an agent that has known genotoxic, mutagenic, and teratogenic effects.
Therefore, for women of childbearing potential only, a negative pregnancy test done =< 14 days prior to registration is required
Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1
Total Neuropathy Score < 2
Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= 1,500/uL
Platelet count >= 100,000/uL
Total bilirubin =< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) (If obstructive jaundice is present, then biliary drainage must be initiated and total bilirubin =< 3.0)
Creatinine =< 1.5 x ULN OR calculated (Calc.) creatinine clearance >= 30 mL/min (Calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault equation)
No known Gilbert's Syndrome or known homozygosity for UGAT1A1*28 polymorphism
No comorbid conditions that would prohibit curative-intent pancreatectomy
Chronic concomitant treatment with strong inhibitors of CYP3A4 is not allowed on this study. Patients on strong CYP3A4 inhibitors must discontinue the drug prior to registration
Chronic concomitant treatment with strong inducers of CYP3A4 is not allowed on this study. Patients on strong CYP3A4 inducers must discontinue the drug prior to registration

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

STUDY_CHAIR: Cristina R. Ferrone, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital

Publications

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