Carboplatin and etoposide in patients with advanced gastric cancer

Thirty-six patients with advanced gastric cancer were treated with combination chemotherapy following surgery. Chemotherapy consisted of carboplatin (CBDCA) 300 mg/m2, days 1-3, and etoposide (VP 16) 100 mg/m2, days 1-5. 10/36 (28%) patients had objective response. The median duration of response was 8 months. Currently 26/36 patients have shown progressive disease at a median of 4 months. Three patients remain progression-free 7, 14, and 15 months after study entry, respectively. 26/36 patients have died and 10/26 remain alive at a median time of 16 months. Estimated survival for all patients is 7 months. Two groups of toxicities were observed: hematological and gastrointestinal. They were generally assessed as mild with only two grade 3 (ECOG) toxicities and with no grade 4 toxicity observed during this study.