Pancreatic carcinoma (PC) is an aggressive neoplasm carrying a high metastatic potential with a 5-year survival rate of 7%. The vast majority of cases already developed locally advanced disease, and distant metastases are present at the time of diagnosis. Furthermore, the recurrence rate is nearly 80% within the first two years after surgery, and about half of these patients show peritoneal relapse. Palliative systemic chemotherapy represents the standard treatment option in case of peritoneal metastases (PM) from PC but roughly reaches a median overall survival of 6-11 months with more than 5% of serious adverse events.~Based on the available data, Nabpaclitaxel is indicated in combination with Gemcitabine for the first-line systemic treatment of patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.~Pressurized IntraPeritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC) is a novel intraperitoneal drug-delivery system of low-dose chemotherapy as a pressurized aerosol. Until now, the combination cisplatin/doxorubicin or oxaliplatin has been administered by PIPAC. Recently, a phase I study (NCT03304210) was conducted to explore the use of intraperitoneal Nabpaclitaxel administered by PIPAC, confirming its safety and preliminary efficacy. The recommended dose to safely start a phase-II study was 112.5 mg/m2.
Combined chemotherapy consisting of endovenous Nabpaclitaxel-Gemcitabine and Nabpaclitaxel-PIPAC may be a promising treatment for patients affected by pancreatic cancer PM who are in need of curative options.~The purpose of this study is to evaluate the antitumoral activity of combined Nabpaclitaxel-PIPAC and systemic Nabpaclitaxel-Gemcitabine chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer peritoneal metastases.~Secondary objectives include the evaluation of the feasibility, the safety, further assessment of the antitumoral activity, the overall and progression free survival, the QoL, the pharmacokinetics of Nabpaclitaxel PIPAC.~Furthermore, the study aims to evaluate the patients' nutritional status and the molecular evolution of PM along treatment with a time-course translational research.