[Investigation of gastric cancer chemotherapy in hiroshima prefecture]

The Hiroshima Oncology Group of Gastric Cancer(HOG-GC)distributed a multiple-answer questionnaire to investigate the realities of chemotherapy for gastric cancer.

Seventy-six hospitals in Hiroshima were surveyed. The Japanese classification was used for the staging criteria.

Forty-one hospitals, including 10 centers for cancer treatment, completed and returned the questionnaires. For stage II & III cases requiring adjuvant chemotherapy, S-1 was the most commonly used(84%)regimen. A standard starting dose was used in 79% of these cases, and S-1 was administered for one year continuously in 84% of the cases. For stage I B & II (T1), S-1 and UFT were used in 45%and 20%of the cases, respectively. In cases with non-resectable gastric cancer, S-1 plus CDDP and S-1 alone were used as a first-line therapy in 62% and 26% of the patients under 75 years age, respectively, and in 33% and 46% of the patients older than 75 years of age, respectively. In patients with ascites and peritoneal dissemination, S-1 plus CDDP, S-1, S-1 plus DTX, S-1 plus PTX, and PTX were used in 26%, 15%, 21%, 17%, and 17% of cases, respectively. Some of the patients with peritoneal dissemination underwent gastrectomy.

S-1 was widely used for gastric cancer chemotherapy in Hiroshima Prefecture. Taxane-containing regimens or palliative gastrectomy were commonly used in cases with peritoneal dissemination.