Multinational phase 3 study of adjuvant nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine for resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

The multinational phase 3 APACT trial compared adjuvant nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine versus gemcitabine alone after resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The primary end point of independently assessed disease free survival was not met, with median DFS 19.4 months with the combination versus 18.8 months with gemcitabine alone. However, in the 5-year follow-up analysis the secondary end point overall survival favored the combination (41.8 versus 37.7 months). Eighty-six versus sixty-eight percent of patients experienced grade 3 or higher treatment-emergent adverse events.