Oxaliplatin, 5-FU, folinic acid as first-line palliative chemotherapy in elderly patients with metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the efficacy and safety of a combination of oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and folinic acid (FA) as first-line palliative chemotherapy for elderly patients with metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer.


METHODS
The study patients were chemotherapy-naïve patients (> 65 years old) with histologically confirmed, metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer. Chemotherapy consisted of oxaliplatin 100 mg/m(2) and FA 100 mg/m(2) (2-hour infusion), and then 5-FU 2400 mg/m(2) (46-hour continuous infusion) every 2 weeks.


RESULTS
A total of 37 patients were studied between April 2004 and October 2006. Of the 34 evaluable patients, none achieved a complete response (CR) and 14 achieved a partial response (PR), resulting in an overall response rate of 41.2%. The median time to progression (TTP) was 5.7 months (95% CI: 4.2~6.3 months) and the median overall survival (OS) was 9.8 months (95% CI: 4.4~12.0 months). The main hematologic toxicities were anemia and neutropenia, which were observed in 56.7% and 32.4% of the patients, respectively. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was observed in 8.1% of the patients. None of the patients experienced febrile neutropenia. Peripheral neuropathy occurred in 35.1% of the patients and all were grade 1/2.


CONCLUSIONS
This oxaliplatin/5-FU/FA regimen showed good efficacy and an acceptable toxicity profile in elderly patients with metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer.
Choi
In Sil
IS
Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Oh
Do-Youn
DY
Kim
Byoung-Su
BS
Lee
Keun-Wook
KW
Kim
Jee Hyun
JH
Lee
Jong-Seok
JS