Evidence map›Paper›PMID 12107836›Full record

Trial reportBritish journal of cancer2002

A double-blind placebo-controlled, randomised study comparing gemcitabine and marimastat with gemcitabine and placebo as first line therapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

S R Bramhall, J Schulz, J Nemunaitis, P D Brown, M Baillet, J A C Buckels

Open access · hybridAbstract readClinical TrialComparative StudyMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in British journal of cancer, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 184 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
184citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
12.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

184 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 559 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024
    Pooled it
  2. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018
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  7. Outcome of gemcitabine plus molecular targeted agent for treatment of pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective phase III studies.Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine · 2014
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  10. Meta-analysis of phase III randomized trials of molecular targeted therapies for advanced pancreatic cancer.HPB : the official journal of the International Hepato Pancreato Biliary Association · 2012
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  14. Prognostic biomarkers related to tumoral microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a systematic review.Romanian journal of morphology and embryology = Revue roumaine de morphologie et embryologie
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124 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

S R BramhallDepartment of Surgery, Liver Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK. S.R.Bramhall@bham.ac.uk
J Schulz
J Nemunaitis
P D Brown
M Baillet
J A C Buckels
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham · GBTexas Oncology · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the western world and the prognosis for unresectable disease remains poor. Recent advances in conventional chemotherapy and the development of novel 'molecular' treatment strategies with different toxicity profiles warrant investigation as combination treatment strategies. This randomised study in pancreatic cancer compares marimastat (orally administered matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor) in combination with gemcitabine to gemcitabine alone. Two hundred and thirty-nine patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer were randomised to receive gemcitabine (1000 mg m(-2)) in combination with either marimastat or placebo. The primary end-point was survival. Objective tumour response and duration of response, time to treatment failure and disease progression, quality of life and safety were also assessed. There was no significant difference in survival between gemcitabine and marimastat and gemcitabine and placebo (P=0.95 log-rank test). Median survival times were 165.5 and 164 days and 1-year survival was 18% and 17% respectively. There were no significant differences in overall response rates (11 and 16% respectively), progression-free survival (P=0.68 log-rank test) or time to treatment failure (P=0.70 log-rank test) between the treatment arms. The gemcitabine and marimastat combination was well tolerated with only 2.5% of patients withdrawn due to presumed marimastat toxicity. Grade 3 or 4 musculoskeletal toxicities were reported in only 4% of the marimastat treated patients, although 59% of marimastat treated patients reported some musculoskeletal events. The results of this study provide no evidence to support a combination of marimastat with gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The combination of marimastat with gemcitabine was well tolerated. Further studies of marimastat as a maintenance treatment following a response or stable disease on gemcitabine may be justified.

Indexed as

AdenocarcinomaAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAntimetabolites, AntineoplasticAntineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy ProtocolsDeoxycytidineDisease-Free SurvivalDisease ProgressionDouble-Blind MethodFemaleGemcitabineHumansHydroxamic AcidsLife TablesMaleAntimetabolites, AntineoplasticDeoxycytidineGemcitabineHydroxamic AcidsmarimastatMatrix Metalloproteinase InhibitorsNeoplasm ProteinsProtease Inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID12107836
PMCPMC2376102
OpenAlexW2162651519

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.