MK0752 and Gemcitabine Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Stage III and IV Pancreatic Cancer That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Histologically or cytologically confirmed ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

  * Stage III and IV, unresectable disease
* Assessable disease by endoscopic ultrasound or CT guidance
* Tissue that is assessed by the Investigator as being accessible to biopsy - for patients recruited to dose escalation phase where three previous patients have not already provided biopsies
* No known brain metastases

  * Patients with stable symptoms within the past 4 weeks, on a stable dose of steroids, and able to give informed consent are eligible

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* WHO performance status 0-1
* Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks
* Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL
* Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 x 10\^9/L
* Platelet count ≥ 100 x 10\^9/L
* Serum bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
* ALT ≤ 2.5 times ULN (≤ 5 times ULN if due to liver metastases)
* PT ≤ 1.5 times ULN
* Creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min (uncorrected)
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Negative pregnancy test
* Fertile patients must use two forms of highly effective contraception (females) 4 weeks prior to, during, and for 6 months after completion of study therapy or 1 form of highly effective contraception (males) during and for 6 months after completion of study therapy
* Written (signed and dated) informed consent and capable of cooperating with treatment and follow-up
* No nonmalignant systemic disease, including active uncontrolled infection, that confers a high medical risk to the patient
* No known serologically positive HIV or hepatitis B or C infection
* No other concurrent malignancies except adequately treated cone-biopsied carcinoma in situ of the uterine cervix, basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or cancer survivors who have undergone potentially curative therapy for a prior malignancy, have no evidence of that disease ≥ 5 years, and are deemed at negligible risk for recurrence
* No concurrent congestive heart failure
* No prior history of cardiac disease (New York Heart Association class III-IV disease), cardiac ischemia, or cardiac arrhythmia
* No other condition that, in the investigator's opinion, would not make the patient a good recommendation for the clinical trial

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* See Disease Characteristics
* Recovered from prior treatments
* Previous chemotherapy for advanced disease is permitted. If gemcitabine treatment was given previously, the patient must have tolerated a dose of at least 800mg/m2. Previous chemotherapy for malignant disease must be complete at least 3 weeks before treatment on this trial (six weeks for mitomycin C)
* No major thoracic or abdominal surgery from which the patient has not yet recovered
* No concurrent participation or planned participation in another interventional clinical study

  * Concurrent participation in an observational study allowed
* No concurrent warfarin

  * Low molecular weight heparin allowed
* No concurrent radiotherapy (except palliative for bone pain), endocrine therapy, or immunotherapy
* No other concurrent anticancer therapy or investigational drugs