title: Irinotecan is active in chemonaive patients with metastatic gastric cancer: a phase II multicentric trial.
abstract: To assess the response rate and the tolerance of irinotecan as first-line therapy, 40 patients with metastatic gastric cancer received irinotecan 350 mg m(-2) every 3 weeks administered as a 30 min infusion. Among the 35 patients evaluable for response, two complete and five partial responses were recorded (response rate: 20.0% (95% CI:8.4-36.9%)). In total, 16 patients achieved stable disease and 12 progressive disease. In all, 66 percent of the patients benefited from tumour growth control. The median time to progression was 3.0 months (95% CI: 2.3-4.4%). The median overall survival was 7.1 months (95% CI: 5.2-9.0%). The probability of being alive at 6 months and 9 months was 61.0 and 32.4%, respectively. The median number of cycles per patient was 3 (range 1-14), and the relative dose intensity was 0.98. The most common grade 3-4 toxicities by patients were diarrhoea 20%, asthenia 10%, nausea 7.5%, vomiting 5.0%, abdominal pain 5%, neutropenia 38.5%, leucopenia 28.2%, anaemia 12.8% and thrombocytopenia 5.1%. Febrile neutropenia occurred in 12.5% of patients. These findings indicate that irinotecan is active and well tolerated in patients with metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma and warrants further evaluation in this clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Robert Rossle Klinik, Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany. Claus-Henning.KOEHNE@UMKLIMKUM-DRESDEN.DE
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Köhne
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Catane
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ducreux
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thuss-Patience
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Niederle
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gips
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Preusser
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knuth
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bugat
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Figer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shani
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fages
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Di Betta
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Wilke
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000077146:Irinotecan; D008297:Male; D020714:Maximum Tolerated Dose; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D000077146:Irinotecan; D002166:Camptothecin