[Evaluation of radiation therapy combined with intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy in patients with non-resectable pancreatic cancer].

This is a retrospective study to evaluate arterial infusion chemotherapy and radiotherapy for non-resectable pancreatic cancer without liver metastasis. Intra-arterial chemotherapy of the pancreas was performed for 17 patients, and 5 additionally received irradiation therapy. Five patients received radiation therapy alone. Both pain relief and tumor-reduction were more successful compared to the systemic chemotherapy group. In the locoregional treatment group, the patient survival rate was 50% at 1 year and 16% at 2 years. These rates were significantly higher than in the systemic chemotherapy group (p less than 0.01). Among the locoregional treatment groups, the median survival period was 7 months in radiation alone, 12 months in intra-arterial chemotherapy group, and 11 months in intra-arterial chemotherapy plus radiation group. These results suggested that locoregional treatment for pancreatic tumor is effective in increasing survival period and improving the quality of life.