Folate biochemical modulation regimen for the treatment of gastric cancer

Effectiveness of immunochemotherapy for gastric cancer: a review of the current status

Currently, the most effective treatment of gastric cancer is surgical resection of the tumor with lymphadenectomy, which is the standard treatment in Japan. It is important to determine whether chemotherapy or immunochemotherapy regimens may prolong the survival of patients with gastric cancer. Although gastric cancer cells, in general, have a low sensitivity to chemotherapy and a low immunogenicity related to stimulation of immune competent cells, a new method including biochemical modulation and nonspecific immunopotentiation with biological response modifiers (BRMs) has permitted us to augment the clinical efficacy of immunochemotherapy for gastric cancer. Further, promising new drugs are being developed and await testing for their possible benefit in an adjuvant setting, and recent advances in molecular biology may open a new avenue for tumor antigen-specific immunotherapy for gastric cancer. We will review the current status of immunochemotherapy for gastric cancer and examine its clinical benefit for survival.

MFL-P Chemotherapy for Pretreated Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients: A Regimen with Triple Biochemical Modulation by MTX-5FU, LV-5FU and 5FU-CDDP

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapeutic regimens, such as cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin + 5FU (CAF) or cyclophosphamide + methotrexate + 5FU (CMF), are sometimes used in combination with endocrine or radiotherapy as a standard first line of treatment for recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. However, many cases are, or become, refractory to these treatments. METHODS: Twenty-one women with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer who previously underwent treatment were administered our original regimen of combinationchemotherapy, MFL-P: Day 1, bolus methotrexate (MTX) 50 mg/body (median dose, 33 mg/m(2); range, 29-35 mg/m(2)) and 4 hours later 5-fluorouracil (5FU) 750 mg/body/h (median dose, 497 mg/m(2)/h; range, 441-528 mg/m(2) /h); Days 2-3, bolus leucovorin(LV) 15 mg/body every 8 h x 3; Days 2-5, 72 hours continuous 5FU 750 mg/body/24h; Day 6, cisplatin (CDDP) 50 mg/body/h (median dose, 33 mg/m(2)/h; range, 29-35 mg/m(2) /h) with sufficient hydration. The subjects ranged in age from 26 to 63 years (mean age, 51.3 years). RESULTS: One complete and 9 partial responses were achieved among the 20 patients (response rate, 50%). In 1 patient, diffuse liver metastasis was not measurable. Among various metastatic sites, a higher response rate was observed especially for soft tissue lesions (skin, chest wall and lymph nodes; 9 responders among 11 lesions). On the other hand, in visceral or skeletal metastases, the response rate was poor. The adverse effects were tolerable in all patients, except for common low-grade stomatitis or anorexia. CONCLUSION: MFL-P is useful as a second or third line of therapy for patients with refractory, recurrent or metastatic breast cancer with soft tissues lesions.

Treatment of patients with advanced gastric carcinoma with a 5-fluorouracil-based or a cisplatin-based regimen: two parallel randomized phase II studies

BACKGROUND

Although many drug combination therapies have been proposed, there is no standard therapy for patients with advanced gastric carcinoma. The superiority of combination therapy over monochemotherapy has not been demonstrated convincingly. To explore the role of monochemotherapy, the authors evaluated 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), modulated by 6S-leucovorin (6S-LV) and a cisplatin-containing regimen, which was comprised of epirubicin, etoposide, and cisplatin with the addition of the reversal agent lonidamine (EEP-L).

METHODS

After stratification according to performance status (PS) and resection of the primary tumor, 72 patients with advanced gastric carcinoma were randomized to 2 parallel Phase II trials with 5-FU/6S-LV and EEP-L, respectively. Thirty-six patients in Study A received bolus 6S-LV, 100 mg/m2, followed by bolus 5-FU, 370 mg/m2, on Days 1-5 and 36 others in Study B received epirubicin, 30 mg/m2, on Days 1 and 5; etoposide, 100 mg/m2, on Days 1, 3, and 5; cisplatin, 30 mg/m2, on Days 2 and 4; and lonidamine, 150 mg/day.

RESULTS

There were 6 partial responses (18.2%) (95% confidence interval [CI] +/- 13.2) in Study A and 7 partial responses (21.9%) (95% CI +/- 14.3) in Study B. Partial responses were more frequent in patients with resected tumors or with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group PS of 0-1. The median duration of response was 8.8 and 8.3 months, respectively, in Study A and Study B. The median survival reached 8 months in Study A and 9 months in Study B. In the whole population of patients survival was significantly higher in patients with a PS of 0-1 (P < 0.05). Patients with a PS of 0-1 and a resected tumor had the significantly longest survival both in EEP-L treated patients and in all evaluable patients in the two studies. The most frequent World Health Organization Grade 3-4 toxic effects were gastrointestinal in Study A and hematologic in Study B. No treatment-related death was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The efficacy of 5-FU, modulated with 6S-LV, is moderate in patients with advanced gastric carcinoma, similar to cisplatin-containing regimens. PS and other prognostic factors could influence the response rate, which does not appear to be a reliable parameter for evaluating the outcome of chemotherapy trials.

Combined intensive chemotherapy and radical surgery for incurable gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

To improve the poor prognosis of patients with advanced incurable gastric cancer, intensive chemotherapy combined with radical surgery was used.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Thirty patients with incurable gastric cancer were treated with a combination of 5-fluorouracil (370 mg/m2) and leucovorin (30 mg/person), given intravenously for five consecutive days, followed by cisplatinum (70 mg/m2) and etoposide (70 mg/m2) on days 6 and 20, delivered through a catheter placed either in the aorta with its tip at the level of the ninth thoracic vertebra or in the celiac artery. This treatment (FLEP therapy) was repeated twice every 5 weeks. Radical or palliative surgery followed chemotherapy.

RESULTS

The overall response rate to the chemotherapy was 50.0% (15 of 30 patients, 95% confidence limit 0.305-0.671). Nineteen patients (15 with a partial response, three showing no change, and one with progressive disease) underwent surgery. Of these, nine underwent curative surgery and 10 palliative surgery. The median survival time was 6.5 months overall, 12.7 months for responders, and 4.7 months for nonresponders. Long-term survivors were exclusively found among patients with distant lymph node metastasis treated by curative surgery (55.6% at 5 years).

CONCLUSIONS

Favorable results of this small phase II study justify a phase III trial.

Adjuvant chemotherapy after gastric resection in node-positive cancer patients: a multicentre randomised study

After curative resection for gastric adenocarcinoma, 103 patients, all with positive nodes, were randomised so that 48 received adjuvant chemotherapy of epidoxorubicin (EPI) 75 mg m-2 on day 1, leucovorin (LV) 200 mg m-2 on days 1-3 and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 450 mg m-2 on days 1-3, every 21 days for 7 months, whereas the remaining 55 did not. During the first year of observation, 21 control patients (38%) and five treated patients had recurrences. After a follow-up period of 36 months, 12 of the treated patients (25%) and only seven controls (13%) were still alive. At that point, the median survival was 13.6 months for the 55 untreated patients and 20.4 months for the 48 treated patients, a significant difference. We found a survival advantage for patients treated with the EPI-LV-5-FU regimen and a consistent delay in the appearance of recurrent or metastatic cancer. Acute toxicity was mild and treatment was well accepted by all patients. There was no long-term toxicity or any cardiac toxicity. We conclude that this particular chemotherapy, administered shortly after gastric resection, improves survival rate in node-positive gastric cancer patients, even although final assessment of this particular adjuvant approach must await completion of the trial.