The China Anti-Cancer Society’s 2013 Expert Exchange Meeting on Advances in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment was recently held in Shanghai. Professor Ramesh Ramanathan from the University of Arizona Oncology Center, one of the principal investigators of the MPACT study, gave a detailed presentation on the results of the study, which was first presented at the Gastrointestinal Oncology Forum of the American Society of Oncology earlier this year. The results of MPACT, a phase III clinical study of albumin paclitaxel in combination with gemcitabine versus gemcitabine alone in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, showed that overall survival was significantly longer with the combination regimen (median overall survival 8.5 months:6.7 months). This is the first breakthrough in prolonged survival on a combination chemotherapy regimen more than 10 years after gemcitabine became an almost exclusive treatment option for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Based on the results of this study, the authoritative NCCN guidelines for oncology in the United States listed albumin paclitaxel in combination with gemcitabine as the standard Class 1 recommendation for first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer in the 2013 update. The trial regimen of albumin paclitaxel in combination with gemcitabine improved one-year survival by 59% (33%:22%) and doubled two-year survival (9%:4%) compared to the control group of gemcitabine alone. The publication of the MPACT study results offers new hope for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.