Effects of radiotherapy combined with FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy on immune function and levels of CYFRA21-1 and SCC in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer

Objective: To investigate the effects of radiotherapy combined with FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy on immune function, as well as keratin 19 fragment antigen 21-1 (CYFRA21-1) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods: 92 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer admitted to our hospital from June, 2015 to June, 2016 were selected as the subjects for the current study. They were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group with 46 cases in each group by the digital table method. The control group was treated with radiotherapy alone, while the observation group was treated with radiotherapy combined with FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy. The short-term efficacy, immune function index, CYFRA21-1 and SCC levels, long-term efficacy and incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results The total effective rate of the observation group was 89.13% (41/46), which was higher than that of the control group with 63.04% (29/46) (P < 0.05). After the treatment, the positive rate of CD3⁺, CD4⁺ cells and the ratio of CD4⁺/CD8⁺ in the observation group were higher than those in the control group, while the positive rate of CD8⁺ cells in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). After the treatment, the serum levels of CYFRA21-1 and SCC in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). After 3 years of follow-up, the local recurrence rate, distal metastasis rate and mortality rate in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, and the disease-free survival rate was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). During the treatment period, the incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group and the control group were 23.91% (11/46) and 15.22% (7/46), respectively, with no significant difference (P > 0.05). Conclusion Radiotherapy combined with FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer can improve the disease remission rate and long-term survival rate, also reduce the level of serum tumor markers, improve the immune function, reduce the recurrence rate and mortality rate. The treatment is safe and worthy of clinical promotion. (authors)