Pancreatic Cancer: How deadly is the future?
Pancreatic cancer is set to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US in 2020 after lung cancer, despite accounting for only 3% of new cancer diagnoses. Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have a median survival of approximately 2.8-5.7 months, even in light of recent therapeutic innovations and elucidation of fundamental biological mechanisms of the disease. In the seven major markets (7MM: US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, and Japan) approximately two-thirds of patients are diagnosed with unresectable Stage III or Stage IV metastatic disease, and a significant proportion of resectable Stage III disease (85%) progresses to metastatic pancreatic cancer. Since 2013, the FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have approved Celgenes Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel), followed by Ipsens Onivyde (irinotecan liposome injection). On the one hand, the addition of these novel therapeutic agents to existing regimens provides renewed hope to improve the treatment o...