A recent study found that adding gemcitabine antibiotics with chemotherapy can improve survival rates by 11 percent for patients with a subset of pancreatic cancer.
The study, published March 23 in JAMA Network Open, followed 3,850 patients with a type of pancreatic cancer known as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Participants were given either first-line gemcitabine or fluorouracil.
Researchers found those who received gemcitabine had 11 percent higher survival rates and 16 percent improvement in cancer-specific survival. There was no association between antibiotic treatment and survival for those given fluorouracil.
The study has not been peer reviewed.