title: Increasing nodal ratio is a poor prognostic factor for survival in stage III-IV (M0) gastric cancer patients who received curative surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy: a retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin in gastric cancer patients and to assess prognostic factors affecting relapse and survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed the data of 153 patients with Stage III-IV (M0) gastric cancer. The patients were given adjuvant 5-fluorouracil/cisplatin chemotherapy after curative gastric resection with D2 dissection from November 1995 to November 2003. Chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin (60 mg/m(2) as 15 min i.v. infusion) and 5-fluorouracil (1200 mg/m(2) as 12 h continuous i.v. infusion for 4 days) in every 21 days up to six cycles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During a median follow-up period of 72.9 months (range: 2.0-135.0 months), a total of 105 patients relapsed (locoregional 19.0% vs. systemic 81.0%). The median disease-free survival and overall survival were 19.8 and 32.2 months, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed T stage, TNM stage and lymph node ratio as prognostic factors for survival (P = 0.002, <0.0001 and <0.0001, respectively). After stepwise selection of the factors, multivariate analysis confirmed the impact of the lymph node ratio and T stage on overall survival and disease-free survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with Stage III-IV (M0) gastric cancer, adjuvant 5-fluorouracil/cisplatin chemotherapy was tolerable, but did not seem to confer survival advantage. And the lymph node ratio was found as an independent prognostic factor in this population. This evidence suggests that the clinical trial using more active chemotherapeutic agents is mandatory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min-A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Do-Youn
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Se-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong-Wan
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seock-Ah
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Im
authors.forename: Woo Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Han-Kwang
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Dae Seog
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: Yung-Jue
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Kuhn-Uk
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tae-You
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae-Min
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Noe Kyung
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kuk-Jin
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Choe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012008:Recurrence; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil