[The results of a modified FAMeth chemotherapy protocol in metastatic stomach carcinoma]

Fifty patients with locally far progressed or metastasizing gastric carcinoma were treated with 5-fluorouracil, adriamycin and methotrexate using a slight modification of the FAMeth schema. Full remission was achieved in four patients, confirmed at a second-look operation. Partial remission was achieved in 13 patients, two of whom went into full remission after operative removal of residual tumour. Median duration of remission for the six patients in full remission was 21 months, for those in partial remission five months. Median survival of all 50 patients was seven months, of those in full and partial remission 12 months, and those without remission four months. The results indicate that this protocol of combined operation and chemotherapy can further improve the results of treating metastasizing gastric carcinoma.