[Every-other-day TS-1 administration for recurrent or non-curative advanced gastric carcinoma]

We report 3 cases in which palliation was achieved with every-other-day administration of TS-1 for recurrent or non-curative advanced gastric carcinoma that had resulted in obstructive jaundice. Two patients had received MTX-5-FU chemotherapy as first-line therapy and showed progressive disease, presenting with obstructive jaundice 6-24 months later. One of them experienced obstructive jaundice 2 months after surgery. After lowering serum bilirubin via per-cutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD), TS-1 was given not in full dose but every other day based upon Shirasaka's theory, as well as for fear of further liver damage. Palliation in terms of long NC and/or decreased serum CEA level persisted for 4-14 months without severe liver dysfunction. Other side effects of the drug were negligible. Shirasaka's theory stresses the difference in proliferation cycles between cancer cells and normal tissue cells (GI tract, bone marrow, etc.); therefore, with every-other-day administration of chemotherapeutic agents, the cytotoxic effects against tumors would be augmented while the adverse reactions in normal cells could be reduced. The present experience seems to support the theoretical and clinical feasibility of every-other-day TS-1 administration for unresectable gastric cancer.