Risk comparison of adverse reactions between gemcitabine monotherapy and gemcitabine combined with albumin-bound paclitaxel in pancreatic cancer: insights from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.

Background: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with limited treatment options. Although gemcitabine monotherapy (G treatment) has long been a standard treatment, combination therapies, such as gemcitabine with albumin-bound paclitaxel (AG treatment), have shown improved outcomes and were approved by the FDA for the PC. However, the AG treatment is also associated with increased adverse events (AEs), which remain inadequately evaluated in real-world settings.

Methods: We utilized the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) to conduct a large-scale pharmacovigilance analysis comparing the safety profiles of G and AG treatments for PC. By analyzing adverse event data from the third quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2024 and quantifying AE signals with reporting odds ratio (ROR) and proportional reporting ratio (PRR) methods, we compared the risk of AEs between the groups. Time to onset (TTO), subgroup and logistic regression analyses were also performed.

Results: The study revealed a higher proportion of male (n = 2307, 54.1%) and elderly patients (age ≥ 65years, n = 2172, 50.9%) in the AG treatment group compared to the G treatment group. We found 17 preferred terms with positive signals at the top 50 common AEs, especially in gastrointestinal and blood systems. Cardiac and neurological AEs also needed to be vigilant. Biliary sepsis and infectious enterocolitis were newly identified AEs and deserve attention. Median TTO was 34 (IQR: 8-103) days (G) and 41 (IQR: 10-104) days (AG), with most AEs occurring within the first month (48.3% and 44%). Subgroup analysis revealed that male patients using the AG treatment had the highest risk of immune-mediated hepatitis (ROR = 23.51, 95% CI = 3.21-172.1), while elderly patients had elevated risks for presyncope (ROR = 24.84, 95% CI = 3.40-181.28) and falls (ROR = 18.60, 95% CI = 2.53-136.97). Logistic regression showed higher-risk fatal outcomes in males (adjusted OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.15-1.76, P < 0.01) and elderly patients (adjusted OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.10-1.69, P < 0.01).

Conclusion: This research offers critical safety insights in real-world settings, emphasizing patients at heightened AEs risk and informing clinical decision-making in PC treatment.