title: Docetaxel in the treatment of gastric cancer.
abstract: Docetaxel is part of the standard chemotherapy in breast, non-small cell lung cancer and androgen-independent metastatic prostate cancer and has recently been approved for advanced gastric cancer. It demonstrated promising single-agent efficacy in gastric cancer and was therefore investigated in different combination regimens. The combination of docetaxel with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), capecitabine, irinotecan or cisplatin demonstrated high efficacy. The triple combination of docetaxel/cisplatin and 5-FU (DCF) was investigated in randomized Phase II trials and a randomized Phase III study (TAX325). In TAX325, DCF demonstrated superiority in terms of time to tumor progression, response rate and survival against a cisplatin/5-FU combination. Docetaxel was therefore approved for advanced gastric cancer by the US FDA and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products and will evolve as an integral part of routine combination regimens against gastric cancer. This review will discuss and interpret the different Phase II and III trials of docetaxel in gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Hämatologie und Onkologie, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany. peter.thuss@charite.de
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Thuss-Patience
authors.forename: Albrecht
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kretzschmar
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reichardt
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000494:pharmacology; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D000077143:Docetaxel; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate; D043823:Taxoids / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D043823:Taxoids; D000077143:Docetaxel; D015251:Epirubicin; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil