A case report of complete response to low-dose S-1 monotherapy for pancreatic cancer in elderly patient]

A 87-year-old woman was diagnosed with pancreatic body cancer(Stage II ). Because of her age and history of open distal partial gastrectomy, it seemed that having her undergo an invasive surgery would be difficult. Therefore, S-1 was administered orally at a dose of 50mg/day for 28 consecutive days followed by a 14-day rest course(low-dose S-1 monotherapy). After 2 courses, the tumor marker(CA19-9)dramatically decreased to within the normal range. After 5 courses, the tumor could not be identified on the abdominal CT image, and it was judged to be a complete response. Low-dose S-1 monotherapy may be useful for improving the prognosis of pancreatic cancer without causing intolerable toxicity, especially for elderly patients.