Results of chemoirradiation after curative resection of locally advanced gastric cancer

Usefulness of chemoradiotherapy for inoperable gastric cancer

Introduction Radiotherapy is not commonly used for the treatment of gastric cancer in Japan, where surgery is the standard local treatment. We report the results of chemoradiotherapy in patients with advanced or recurrent gastric cancer which was deemed difficult to treat surgically. Methods Twenty-one patients with gastric cancer (including sixteen with advanced/recurrent gastric cancer and five with poor general condition) underwent chemo-radiotherapy, for whom the therapeutic efficacy, toxicity and survival period were analysed. Results The tumour response to chemoradiotherapy was categorised as complete, partial, stable or progressive in 5, 9, 3, and 4 patients, respectively, with an overall response rate of 67%. No serious complications such as gastrointestinal perforation or bleeding occurred, and no cardiac, hepatic or renal dysfunction developed during the follow-up period. The mean survival time was 19.8 months (range, 3-51 months). One patient died of another disease, 18 died of primary cancer and the cause of death was unknown in 2 patients. Conclusions Chemoradiotherapy appears to be an effective treatment for localised gastric cancer without distant metastases, but further studies are needed to determine the indications for chemoradiotherapy and late adverse effects, as well as the chemotherapy regimens to be used.

[Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in gastric adenocarcinoma: about 34 cases and review of the literature]

Notre étude consistera en l’évaluation du pronostic des patients porteurs d'un adénocarcinome gastrique opérés et traités par radio-chimiothérapie adjuvante en technique conformationnelle. Entre Janvier 2007 et Décembre 2011, 34 patients ont reçu après une chirurgie radicale (R0 ou R1), un à trois cycles de 5-Fluoro-uracile associé à de l'Elvorine en adjuvant, suivi d'une radio-chimiothérapie selon le même protocole à la dose de 45Gy, puis de deux cycles de chimiothérapie à un mois d'intervalle après la radio-chimiothérapie concomitante. Dans le groupe d’étude, il y avait 34 patients d’âge médian 50 ans (47-58), avec un sexe ratio (H/F) de 2,4. Une chirurgie de type R1 a été réalisée dans 26,5% des cas, et 53% des patients étaient de stade III-IV. Le rapport nombres de ganglions positifs, sur nombre de ganglions prélevés étaient > 0,4 dans 26,5% des cas. Durant le traitement mené à terme, une neutropénie de grade III a été observée chez quatre patients, avec des troubles digestifs (nausées, vomissement, ou diarrhée) de grade I/II dans la majorité des cas. Après un suivi médian de 20 mois, 70,6% des patients étaient en survie sans rechute, et 29,4% ont présenté une récidive métastatique; la survie globale à 5 ans était de 35,4% et la survie sans progression de 58,7%. La radio-chimiothérapie concomitante postopératoire pourrait être un régime efficace et sûre chez les patients ayant bénéficié d'une gastrectomie à visée curative dans le cancer de l'estomac localement avancé.

Post-operative radiochemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer: one department's experience of 56 patients

OBJECTIVES

Prognosis in patients with locally advanced stomach cancer undergoing surgery alone is poor. High local failure rates in gastric cancer have been reported of up to 70%. When a relapse occurs, attempts at curative treatment are generally unsuccessful. A retrospective analysis was performed in order to determine whether post-operative radiochemotherapy improves treatment results in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer.

METHODS

Between November 2004 and July 2008, 56 patients with clinical Stage IB-IV cancer of the stomach underwent curative gastrectomy and adjuvant radiochemotherapy. Patients with distant metastases were excluded from the analysis. The total radiation dose was 45.0 Gy. The chemotherapy regimen comprised a 5 day cycle of 5-fluorouracil at 425 mg m(-2) and leucovorin at 20 mg m(-2). Overall survival and disease-free survival, as well as toxicity, were estimated for all patients.

RESULTS

Within the study group there were 7 (13%) local recurrences, 4 (7%) distant metastases and 8 (14%) local and distant relapses. The 2 year overall survival was 48%. A total of 19 (34%) patients developed Grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity. There were no treatment-related deaths.

CONCLUSION

Post-operative radiochemotherapy is an effective and safe regimen in patients with curatively resected locally advanced gastric cancer.

Results of adjuvant radiochemotherapy for gastric adenocarcinoma in Slovenia

AIMS

To analyze the results of postoperative concomitant radiochemotherapy with 5-florouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV) in patients with gastric carcinoma treated in a single institution.

METHODS

During 2001-2004, 123 patients with the mean age of 60 years, were treated for adenocarcinoma of the stomach, stage Ib-IV, with postoperative concomitant radiochemotherapy. Radical (R0) and non-radical (R1) resection of the tumor was performed in 107 and 16 patients, respectively. Adjuvant treatment consisted of five cycles of five-day chemotherapy with 5-FU (425 mg/m(2)) and LV (20 mg/m(2)) and concomitant radiotherapy with the total dose of 45 Gy.

RESULTS

The treatment was completed according to the protocol in 101 patients. Stomatitis, dysphagia, and nausea and vomiting of grade three occurred in 32, 27, and 23 patients, respectively. The median follow-up time of 87 survivors was 30.4 months (range 17.4-58.3 months). At two years, locoregional control (LRC), disease-free survival (DFS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 86%, 65%, 74%, and 73%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the initial Hb level was identified as independent prognostic factor for all survival four endpoints, the involvement of whole stomach with cancer for LRC, the total dose of 5-FU per five-day cycle for DFS, and pT stage for DSS.

CONCLUSIONS

In operable gastric carcinoma, postoperative concomitant radiochemotherapy with 5-FU and LV is feasible and its toxicity acceptable. Its potential to improve the treatment outcome compared to the surgery alone is yet to be tested in well designed prospective randomized studies.

Outcome of gastric cancer patients after successful gastrectomy: influence of the type of recurrence and histology on survival

BACKGROUND

The effect of the location of disease recurrence after curative (R0) gastrectomy on patient survival has not been elucidated. The authors hypothesized that the location of recurrence would have a significant influence on survival.

METHODS

Medical records of all patients who received treatment for gastric cancer at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center between 1985 and 1998 were reviewed. Patients who underwent R0 resection for gastric cancer and subsequently developed localized (anastomotic) recurrence (LR), lymph node (regional) recurrence (NR), or distant metastases (DM) were analyzed for overall survival (OS). All study factors were entered into a Cox proportional hazards model to provide multivariate hazard ratios. The model was adjusted for the effects of primary site of recurrence, histologic grade, patient age, and location of the primary tumor.

RESULTS

This retrospective analysis included 227 consecutive patients. The median survival of patients who developed NR (11 months) was similar to that of patients who developed LR (10 months), but both groups had significantly longer median survival compared with patients who developed DM (7 months; log-rank P = .03). Patients who had well differentiated or moderately differentiated tumors had a longer OS (11 months) than patients who had poorly differentiated tumors (8 months; log-rank P = .02). In this cohort, location of the primary cancer and age at recurrence had no significant impact on OS.

CONCLUSIONS

The data from this study suggested that, among patients who undergo R0 gastrectomy for gastric cancer, LR and NR versus DM should be considered a valid stratification factor for randomized trials based on significant differences in survival. Determining whether this stratification should apply to histologic differentiation will require further investigation in a larger multicenter cohort.

Conformal radiotherapy in the adjuvant treatment of gastric cancer: Review of 82 cases

BACKGROUND

The Intergroup 0116 study showed a survival benefit with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for resected gastric cancer. We report our experience using conformal radiotherapy (RT).

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Eighty-two patients with resected gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, Stage IB to IV (M0), were treated with 45 Gy in 25 fractions using a 5-field conformal technique. Chemotherapy was in accordance with the Intergroup 0116 study, or infusional 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin in a phase I/II trial.

RESULTS

Mean age was 56.4 years. Median follow-up was 22.8 months. Grade 3 or greater acute toxicity (National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria of Adverse Events, version 3.0) was noted in 57% of patients (upper gastrointestinal tract 34%, hematologic 33%). One patient died of neutropenic sepsis. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Grade 3 late toxicity included esophageal strictures (3 patients) and small bowel obstruction (1 patient). Full course CRT was completed by 67% of patients. Of 26 patients who relapsed, 20 died. Site of first relapse was available on 23 patients: 8 locoregional and distant, 4 locoregional alone, 11 distant alone. Overall and relapse-free survival were 69% and 54% at 3 years.

CONCLUSION

Adjuvant CRT for gastric cancer, even with conformal RT, is associated with significant toxicity. Survival was comparable to that reported in the Intergroup 0116 study.

Evaluation of Nutritional Status in Cancer Patients Receiving Radiotherapy

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the nutritional status of cancer patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) and to assess the possible contributions of nutritional support to patients with malnutrition.

METHODS

Prospectively, 207 patients referred to our outpatient radiotherapy department were included. The patients were classified according to tumor site (head/neck, breast, lung, stomach, or colorectal). Nutritional status at the onset, at the end of RT, and 3 and 6 months after irradiation was evaluated with the subjective global assessment (SGA). All of the patients were supported with additional portions of meal or standard enteral feeding formula during and after the irradiation period as long as they were in the moderately or severely malnourished groups, respectively.

RESULTS

At the onset, malnutrition was present in 31% of all patients, and it increased to 43% at the end of RT. This difference predominated in head/neck cancer patients. Malnutrition ratios in head/neck cancer patients at the onset and after RT were 24% and 88%, respectively. By a 6-month follow-up, the ratio of patients with malnutrition decreased to 8%. Nutritional status of all groups was found to improve during the 6-month follow-up period, except for the breast cancer group, which included no patients with severe malnutrition at any time.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present study may be helpful in planning an appropriate nutritional support for cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy according to the irradiation site.