Metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma and renal cell carcinoma treated with gemcitabine and sunitinib malate. A case report.

CONTEXT: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma and renal cell carcinoma are relatively frequent cancers that have been rarely reported as synchronous primary malignancies. When present simultaneously, they pose a therapeutic challenge given the many available targeted agents with reported efficacy in renal cell cancer and limited options for metastatic pancreatic cancer.

CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 43-year-old Caucasian gentleman diagnosed simultaneously with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma and localized renal cell carcinoma treated with combination chemotherapy, consisting of gemcitabine and sunitinib. Patient had a radiographic response and prolonged progression free survival of twenty six weeks; side effects were manageable and included grade 3 neutropenia and grade 2 hypertension.

CONCLUSION

This encouraging response, safety profile and progression free survival response suggest that we should further examine this and other such regimens to improve clinical outcomes for maximum efficacy with minimal side-effects.