Oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (FOLFOX-4) combination chemotherapy as a salvage treatment in advanced gastric cancer.
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to determine the efficacy and safety of FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy as a salvage treatment for patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC).


METHODS
The AGC patients with an ECOG performance status of 0~1 and progressive disease after prior treatments were registered onto this phase II trial. The patients received oxaliplatin (85 mg/m² on day 1), leucovorin (200 mg/m² on days 1 and 2) and 5-fluorouracil (400 mg/m² as a bolus and 600 mg/m² as a 22-hour infusion on days 1 and 2) every 2 weeks.


RESULTS
For the 42 treated patients, a total of 228 chemotherapy cycles (median: 5, range: 1~12) were administered. Twenty-nine patients (69%) received FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy as a third-(50%) or fourth-line (19%) treatment. On the intent-to-treat analysis, 9 patients (21%) achieved a partial response, which was maintained for 4.6 months. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 3.0 months and 6.2 months, respectively. The frequently encountered toxicities were neutropenia and gastrointestinal side effects, including anorexia. Although there was one possible treatment-related death, the toxicity profiles were generally predictable and manageable.


CONCLUSIONS
Salvage chemotherapy with FOLFOX-4 is an effective and tolerable regimen for those heavily pretreated AGC patients who have a good performance status.
Kim
Young Saing
YS
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon University Gil Hospital, Incheon, Korea.
Hong
Junshik
J
Sym
Sun Jin
SJ
Park
Se Hoon
SH
Park
Jinny
J
Cho
Eun Kyung
EK
Lee
Jae Hoon
JH
Shin
Dong Bok
DB