Low-dose FP therapy was carried out in 30 patients with far advanced gastric cancer and assessed according to anti-tumor effect and quality of life (QOL). This therapy consisted of CDDP (3.5-7 mg/m2/day infused on Days 1-5 every week) and continuous infusion of 5-FU (250 mg/m2/day for 28 days). A partial response was observed in 15 cases, so the overall response rate was 50%. The response rates with stomach and lymph node cancers were higher than those of other organs (64.3% and 55.6%). Patients without peritoneal dissemination, with good performance status (PS) (0, 1) and differentiated histologic type showed a significantly higher response rate than patients with peritoneal dissemination, poor PS (2, 3, 4) and undifferentiated histologic type (p = 0.0034, 0.0253, 0.0080). No side effects (> or = WHO grade 3) were observed. The QOL of patients was assessed according to the percentage of patients with an observed improvement of diet, who could be discharged from hospital, and the duration in hospitals in relation to survival time (hospital stay). The QOL of patients with low-dose FP therapy was better than that of patients with usual combination chemotherapy. Low-dose FP therapy is a promising regimen for patients with far advanced gastric cancer.