Chemotherapy as a component of multimodal therapy for gastric carcinoma

Prognosis of locally advanced gastric cancer remains poor, and several multimodality strategies involving surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation have been tested in clinical trials. Phase III trial testing the benefit of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy over treatment with surgery alone have revealed little impact on survival, with the exception of some small trials in Western nations. A large trial from the United States exploring postoperative chemoradiation was the first major success in this category. Results from Japanese trials suggest that moderate chemotherapy with oral fluoropyrimidines may be effective against less-advanced (T2-stage) cancer, although another confirmative trial is needed to prove this point. Investigators have recently turned to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and some promising results have been reported from phase II trials using active drug combinations. In 2005, a large phase III trial testing pre- and postoperative chemotherapy has proven its survival benefit for resectable gastric cancer. Since the rate of pathologic complete response is considered to affect treatment results of this strategy, neoadjuvant chemoradiation that further increases the incidence of pathologic complete response could be a breakthrough, and phase III studies testing this strategy may be warranted in the near future.