Chicago: The drug gemcitabine appears to prevent a recurrence of malignancy in some patients battling pancreatic cancer, one of the most common and deadliest forms of the disease, a study released on Tuesday said.

The research, done in Germany and Austria, involved 368 patients who had their pancreases removed. Some were treated with the drug gemcitabine, while others received no drug treatment.

After more than four years, the cancer came back in about 74 percent of the treated group, compared to 92 percent of those who did not get the drug, according to the study published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The estimated median time of disease-free survival was 13. 4 months in the gemcitabine group, compared to 6.9 months among those not given the chemotherapy, the study said.

The outcome indicates that the drug "has minimal toxicity, does not compromise quality of life, and offers a good, and currently perhaps the best, chance for prolonged, disease-free survival" in patients where the pancreas has been removed because of cancer, the study concluded.

The research was funded in part by Eli Lilly and Co., which makes the drug under the brand Gemzar.