Clinical Trial Intelligence

Which Endpoints Are Measured Most Often in European Pancreatic Cancer Phase II & III Trials?

9 July 2026

Across 97 unique European CTIS pancreatic cancer Phase II/III-containing trials, endpoint selection is dominated by safety/adverse events in 80 trials (82.5%), overall survival or mortality in 71 trials (73.2%), and progression-free survival in 66 trials (68.0%). Primary endpoints most often emphasize safety (38/97, 39.2%) and objective response rate (24/97, 24.7%), while secondary endpoints carry most of the survival, response, quality-of-life, biomarker, and pharmacokinetic burden.

Most common endpoint
82.5%
Safety / adverse events
80 of 97 trials
Top primary role
39.2%
Primary safety endpoints
38 of 97 trials
CTIS timing
72
Median days from initial CTIS submission to first authorization

Safety, OS, and PFS form the core pancreatic cancer endpoint backbone

Safety/adverse events appeared in 80 of 97 trials (82.5%), followed by overall survival or mortality in 71 (73.2%) and progression-free survival in 66 (68.0%). Response-based endpoints remained common but less universal: objective response rate appeared in 52 trials (53.6%), disease control in 43 (44.3%), and duration of response in 39 (40.2%).

Endpoint categories appearing anywhere in the protocol endpoint hierarchy
Safety / adverse events82.5%
Overall survival / mortality73.2%
Progression-free survival68.0%
Objective response rate53.6%
Disease control / stable disease44.3%
Duration of response40.2%
Quality of life / PRO35.1%
Biomarker / MRD / immune response35.1%
Pharmacokinetics30.9%
Surgery / pathology endpoints24.7%
Population: 97 unique European CTIS pancreatic cancer Phase II/III-containing trials, endpoint category counted once per trial.
Interpretation

European pancreatic cancer CTIS submissions use a broad endpoint stack: safety is nearly universal, survival is the dominant confirmatory outcome family, and response endpoints remain central for signal-seeking and expansion designs.

Primary endpoints concentrate on safety and ORR; secondary endpoints carry the full survival-response package

Primary endpoints were present in 90 of 97 trials (92.8%), secondary endpoints in 84 (86.6%), and structured other/exploratory endpoints in 4 (4.1%). Across 740 endpoint items, 164 were primary (22.2%), 567 were secondary (76.6%), and 9 were other/exploratory (1.2%).

Number and share of trials using each endpoint category by role
Endpoint category Primary Secondary Other / exploratory
Safety / adverse events38 / 97 (39.2%)60 / 97 (61.9%)0 / 97 (0.0%)
Objective response rate24 / 97 (24.7%)40 / 97 (41.2%)1 / 97 (1.0%)
Overall survival / mortality16 / 97 (16.5%)60 / 97 (61.9%)1 / 97 (1.0%)
Progression-free survival16 / 97 (16.5%)57 / 97 (58.8%)2 / 97 (2.1%)
Disease control / stable disease11 / 97 (11.3%)39 / 97 (40.2%)1 / 97 (1.0%)
Duration of response1 / 97 (1.0%)39 / 97 (40.2%)0 / 97 (0.0%)
Quality of life / PRO0 / 97 (0.0%)34 / 97 (35.1%)0 / 97 (0.0%)
Biomarker / MRD / immune response4 / 97 (4.1%)32 / 97 (33.0%)3 / 97 (3.1%)
Pharmacokinetics3 / 97 (3.1%)29 / 97 (29.9%)0 / 97 (0.0%)
Surgery / pathology endpoints10 / 97 (10.3%)20 / 97 (20.6%)1 / 97 (1.0%)
Endpoint role is based on the structured primary, secondary, and other endpoint fields.
Interpretation

The primary endpoint layer is narrower and decision-oriented, led by safety and ORR. The secondary layer is where pancreatic cancer protocols preserve the full evidence package: OS, PFS, response depth, QoL, biomarkers, and PK.

Phase II trials are response- and safety-heavy; Phase III trials shift toward OS

Using exclusive phase groups, the cohort includes 66 Phase II-only trials (68.0%), 22 Phase III-only trials (22.7%), and 9 Phase II/III trials (9.3%). In Phase II-only trials, safety appeared in 62 of 66 (93.9%), PFS in 54 (81.8%), and ORR in 44 (66.7%). In Phase III-only trials, OS led with 14 of 22 trials (63.6%).

Endpoint categories by exclusive phase group
Endpoint category Phase II only
n=66
Phase III only
n=22
Phase II/III
n=9
Safety / adverse events62 (93.9%)13 (59.1%)5 (55.6%)
Overall survival / mortality51 (77.3%)14 (63.6%)6 (66.7%)
Progression-free survival54 (81.8%)8 (36.4%)4 (44.4%)
Objective response rate44 (66.7%)5 (22.7%)3 (33.3%)
Disease control / stable disease37 (56.1%)4 (18.2%)2 (22.2%)
Duration of response35 (53.0%)3 (13.6%)1 (11.1%)
Quality of life / PRO24 (36.4%)5 (22.7%)5 (55.6%)
Biomarker / MRD / immune response29 (43.9%)3 (13.6%)2 (22.2%)
Phase grouping uses unique trials; Phase II/III records are separated from Phase II-only and Phase III-only cohorts.
Interpretation

The phase signal is clear: Phase II pancreatic cancer trials retain exploratory oncology me