Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for high-grade advanced gastric cancer

Fifty-five patients with high-grade advanced gastric cancer in whom the presence of stage IV was confirmed by preoperative diagnostic imaging were treated with PMUE therapy by a combined use of cisplatin (CDDP) 75 mg/m2, mitomycin C (MMC) 10 mg/body, etoposide 150 mg/body, and UFT (a combination of 1-(2-tetrahydrofuryl)-5-fluorouracil and uracil in a molar ratio of 1:4) 400 mg/day. CDDP and MMC was administered intravenously on the first day, followed by etoposide 50 mg/day on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th days. All the patients had measurable lesions that were evaluated by computed tomography scanning before and after the treatments. These patients were allocated randomly to two groups. Of these cases, 29 belonged to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) group to whom PMUE therapy was given preoperatively; the remaining 26 patients underwent operation first and received PMUE thereafter (control group). Background factors did not differ significantly between the two groups. The response rate was higher in the NAC group than in the control group (62% in the former versus 35% in the latter). The resectability rates were 79% and 88% in the NAC and control groups, respectively. However, the rate of potentially curable cases was higher in the NAC group than in the control group (38% in the former versus 15% in the latter). Among the nonresection cases, the prognosis was highly unfavorable in both groups. In the resection cases, however, the survival rate was significantly better in the NAC group than in the control group. These results may indicate that in patients with high-grade, advanced gastric cancer initial chemotherapy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) and then surgery should be considered.