Aims and background: Surgery is the treatment of choice for locally advanced gastric cancer, but the 5-year survival rate is still disappointing. The aim of the present review is to summarize the results of previously performed randomized trials to evaluate the effects of adjuvant therapy in gastric cancer.
Methods: We searched the Medline database for the following items: randomized trial, adjuvant therapy for gastric cancer, stomach neoplasms and adjuvant chemotherapy, meta-analysis of adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer. We also searched the bibliographies of all papers, as well as review articles, to identify other studies.
Results: The results of chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting are disappointing and, although some randomized controlled trials have reported positive results, none of them provides strong evidence that adjuvant chemotherapy really works. Therefore, surgery remains the mainstay of therapy of gastric cancer.
Conclusions: Further studies are warranted to identify more satisfactory strategies as well as to identify patients who are more likely to benefit from an adjuvant treatment.