Pasireotide Drug Reduces Rate Of Dangerous Pancreatic Surgery Complications
Pasireotide, which is manufactured by Novartis, has been shown to reduce the rate of dangerous and potentially fatal pancreatic surgery complications. Pancreatic surgery carries a number of risks, and as many as half of the patients requiring surgery develop serious complications. Between 2 and 4 percent of patients do not survive the procedure, making the mortality rate for the surgery extremely high.
Pasireotide has been shown to treat one of the most common post-surgery complications—the leakage of fluid from the pancreas. After surgery, the pancreas can leak in large amounts which can result in dangerous conditions such as sepsis and infection. The leak itself is dangerous as well, with many patients having to be readmitted for drainage of the leaked fluids.
Researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have used the pasireotide drug, which is currently in a phase 3 clinical trial, to reduce the rate of leakage. The drug has cut the rate of dangerous complications in half for patients enrolled in the clinical trial. Peter Allen, surgical oncologist and Associate Director of the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, commented on the results of the study. “This could be a major advance that will change the practice of pancreatic surgery, given the complications that still exist,” said Allen. “Pancreatic leak is the Achilles’ heel of this operation, and one of the few remaining difficult complications of any surgery.”
Allen talked about how doctors are currently treating patients who are readmitted into the hospital to get a leaking pancreas drained. “The pancreas can secrete up to a liter of fluid a day, so when that’s leaking into your abdominal cavity, it can build up very fast,” he said. “We have to put drains in to remove the fluid, sometimes through multiple invasive procedures, and it can be months before the fistula will heal.”
The pasireotide drug works by binding receptors inside of pancreatic cells, which blocks the secretion of digestive enzymes and prevents leakage.