Association between BRCA Gene Variants and the Response to Modified FOLFIRINOX in Patients with Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer

We investigated the effect of modified FOLFIRINOX (mFFX) in unresectable pancreatic cancer by retrospectively analyzing the cases of 43 patients who underwent BRCA testing (germline, n =11; somatic, n = 26; both germline and somatic, n = 6). The association between BRCA mutations and therapeutic effect was clarified. Six patients tested positive for germline pathogenic variants. Familial pancreatic cancer (33% vs. 3%, p = 0.006) and peritoneal disseminated lesions (66% vs. 8%, p < 0.001) were significantly more common in patients with germline pathogenic variants. The partial response (PR) rate was 100% in the germline BRCA-positive patients, and 27% in the germline BRCA-negative patients (p < 0.001). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was not reached for any germline BRCA-positive patients but was 9.0 months for the germline BRCA-negative patients (p = 0.042). Patients with stage IV BRCA-associated pancreatic cancer had better overall survival than those with non-BRCA-associated pancreatic cancer, although the difference was nonsignificant (not reached vs. 655 days, p = 0.061). Our results demonstrate that a PR and prolonged PFS can be expected in germline BRCA-positive patients after treatment with mFFX. Our findings also suggest that germline BRCA pathogenic variants may be useful as biomarkers for the therapeutic effect of mFFX in patients with pancreatic cancer.