Complete cure of metastatic gastric cancer treated with combination chemotherapy using S-1

A 65-year-old man had gastric cancer with liver and lung metastases, and received three cycles of FLEP (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, etoposide, cisplatin) chemotherapy on June, 2001. The primary lesion became scar ulceration and adenocarcinoma tissue was recognized by biopsy pathologically. The lung metastases and lymph node metastases disappeared. The metastatic liver lesion decreased more than 95% in size and was judged partial response. Thereafter he received only oral administration of 100mg S-1 (70mg/m2). The metastatic liver lesion was shown to have disappeared on CT of the abdomen and was judged complete response, on June, 2002. Since then, he was receiving S-1 and continued to be complete response for two and half years until June, 2004. The clinical trial of S-1 as an adjuvant therapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer, who underwent curative resection, is ongoing in a multicenter study. Although the outcome is still unknown, the effect of S-1 for adjuvant chemotherapy may be also promising. We think that S-1 is useful as an adjuvant therapy and maintenance therapy of prior treatment including surgical resection.