| Title | New perspectives in the treatment of advanced or metastatic gastric cancer. | | Author(s) | Rosati G, Ferrara D, Manzione L | | Institution | Medical Oncology Unit, S. Carlo Hospital, Via P. Petrone, 1, Potenza 85100, Italy. rosatiger@yahoo.com. | | Source | World J Gastroenterol 2009 Jun 14; 15(22):2689-92. | | Abstract | Metastatic gastric cancer remains an incurable disease, with a relative 5-year survival rate of 7%-27%. Chemotherapy, which improves overall survival (OS) and quality of life, is the main treatment option. Meta-analysis has demonstrated that the best survival results obtained in earlier randomized studies were achieved with three-drug regimens containing a fluoropyrimidine, an anthracycline, and cisplatin (ECF). Although there has been little progress in improving median OS times beyond the 9-mo plateau achievable with the standard regimens, the availability of newer agents has provided some measure of optimism. A number of new combinations incorporating docetaxel, oxaliplatin, capecitabine, and S-1 have been explored in randomized trials. Some combinations, such as epirubicin-oxaliplatin-capecitabine, have been shown to be as effective as (or perhaps more effective than) ECF, and promising early data have been derived for S-1 in combination with cisplatin. One factor that might contribute to extending median OS is the advancement whenever possible to second-line cytotoxic treatments. However, the biggest hope for significant survival advances in the near future would be the combination of new targeted biological agents with existing chemotherapy first-line regimens. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 19522017 |
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