# Overall survival and clinical characteristics of pancreatic cancer in BRCA mutation carriers

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-golan-brca-pancreatic-platinum-survival-bjc-2014/  
OnCo record `paper-golan-brca-pancreatic-platinum-survival-bjc-2014` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Among 71 people with pancreatic cancer and an inherited BRCA mutation, those with advanced disease lived 22 months on platinum chemotherapy against 9 months on other drugs, the clinical hint that led to the POLO trial.

## Summary

Patients with BRCA1/2-associated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma diagnosed 1994 to 2012 were identified at three institutions: 71 patients (BRCA1 21, BRCA2 49, both 1), mean age 60.3, 81.7% with a family history of malignancy, 30% resected. Median overall survival for 58 analysable patients was 14 months; not reached for stage 1/2 (52% alive at 60 months) and 12 months for stage 3/4. Superior overall survival was observed for stage 3/4 patients treated with platinum against non-platinum chemotherapy (22 versus 9 months; P = 0.039).

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Journal: British Journal of Cancer
- Year: 2014
- DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2014.418
- Authors: Golan T, Kanji ZS, Epelbaum R, et al.
- Findings: 71 BRCA carriers: BRCA2 49, BRCA1 21.; Advanced disease: 22 months on platinum versus 9 on non-platinum.
- What it means: The retrospective platinum signal that made platinum-based first-line chemotherapy the standard for BRCA carriers and set POLO's design of olaparib after platinum.
- Caveats: Retrospective, 58 analysable, three centres.; Treatment selection bias.

## Sources

- Golan et al., Br J Cancer 2014: 71 BRCA carriers with pancreatic cancer, platinum and survival: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2014.418
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25072261/

## Connected records

- biomarkers: [Germline BRCA1/2 pathogenic variant (gBRCAm)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/brca-germline/)
- cancers: [BRCA or PALB2-mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/brca-palb2-pdac/), [Metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/metastatic-pdac/), [Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic/)
- targets: [BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD)](https://onco.cc/targets/brca/)
- drugs: [FOLFIRINOX / mFOLFIRINOX](https://onco.cc/drugs/folfirinox/), [Gemcitabine + cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/gemcitabine-cisplatin/)
- institutions: [Princess Margaret Cancer Centre](https://onco.cc/institutions/princess-margaret/), [Sheba Medical Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/sheba/)
- terms: [Germline BRCA mutation (gBRCA)](https://onco.cc/terms/gbrca-mutation/)
- people: [Talia Golan](https://onco.cc/people/talia-golan/)
- journals: [British Journal of Cancer](https://onco.cc/journals/british-journal-of-cancer/)
- trials: [POLO](https://onco.cc/trials/polo/)

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