Retrospective study on efficacy of a paclitaxel combined with a leucovorin and fluorouracil regimen for advanced gastric cancer.

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of paclitaxel combined with a leucovorin and 5-fluorouracil regimen (PLF regimen; q2w) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) for advanced gastric cancer.

METHODS: A total of 183 patients with advanced gastric cancer who underwent 3 cycles of PLF regimen chemotherapy before surgery and received surgery 2 weeks after chemotherapy were enrolled as a treatment group. A total of 184 patients with advanced gastric cancer and no NCT during the same period were enrolled as the controls and treated with surgery. Both groups underwent a D2 radical gastrectomy and the standard postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.

RESULTS: In the NCT group, there were 19 cases of complete remission, 86 cases of partial remission, 72 cases of stable disease, and 6 cases of progressive disease, with an overall response rate of 57.4%. The R0 resection rate was higher than in the control group (85.2% vs 61.4%, p < .05). In the NCT group, 12 cases of esophagogastric cancer (20.7%) showed complete remission and 32 cases (55.2%) showed partial remission, while 7 cases of distal gastric cancer (5.6%) showed complete remission and 54 cases (43.2%) showed partial remission. Pathologic complete remission was higher for esophagogastric cancer than for distal gastric cancer (20.7% vs 3.2%, p < .05). Differences were found between the NCT and control groups in terms of 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall and disease-free survival.

CONCLUSION: The PLF regimen showed good tolerability and a high response rate, especially for esophagogastric cancer. This regimen reduced the tumor size, lowered the tumor stage, and improved the R0 resection rate and survival rate.