Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination chemotherapy with biweekly paclitaxel plus infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin as first-line treatment for patients with advanced gastric cancer.
Methods: Eligible patients with histologically confirmed advanced or metastatic gastric cancer were enrolled. The chemotherapeutic regimen consisted of paclitaxel (100 mg/m(2) on day 1) as a 3-hour intravenous infusion, followed sequentially by leucovorin (400 mg/m(2) on day 1) as a 2-hour intravenous infusion, bolus 5-FU (400 mg/m(2) on day 1), and then continuous infusion 5-FU (3000 mg/m(2) on day 1) over 46 hours. Cycles were repeated every 2 weeks.
Results: Sixty patients were enrolled (median age, 52.5 years old). Of these, 65% patients had Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of grade 2. A median of 8 cycles was administered (range, 4-12). Fifty-five patients were evaluable for response. Two patients achieved a complete response and 28 patients achieved a partial response, producing an overall response rate of 50% by intent-to-treat analysis. The median duration of response was 6.4 months (95% CI, 5.14-7.60 months). Median progression-free survival and median overall survival were 7.7 months (95% CI, 6.5-8.9 months) and 14.3 months (95% CI, 9.4-19.1 months), respectively. Hematologic toxicity was mild; grade 3 neutropenia was noted in only 6.7% of patients. Alopecia was the most common nonhematologic toxicity in 51 patients (71.4%). Grade 3 alopecia occurred in 11 patients (18.3%).
Conclusion: Combination chemotherapy of biweekly paclitaxel followed sequentially by infusion leucovorin, bolus 5-FU, and continuous infusion 5-FU over 46 hours is effective and well tolerated in patients with advanced gastric cancer, especially in patients with poor performance status who cannot tolerate aggressive chemotherapy regimens.