Objective: Endostar is a new vascular epithelial inhibitor, which is reported to be effective in treating liver metastasis from gastric cancer. However, the optimal therapeutic regimen of Endostar remains unclear. Thus, our study aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of Endostar continuous intravenous infusion combined with S-1 and oxaliplatin (SOX) chemotherapy in treating such patients.
Patients and methods: A total of sixty patients with liver metastasis from gastric cancer admitted in our department were enrolled. The experimental group (n = 30) was treated with Endostar continuous intravenous infusion combined with SOX regimen chemotherapy, and the control group (n = 30) received SOX regimen chemotherapy alone. All patients received at least two cycles of treatment. The objective effective rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), and adverse reactions were recorded and compared.
Results: The ORR of the experimental group and control group was 63.3% and 43.3% (P = 0.046), respectively. The DCR of the experimental group and the control group was 86.7% and 73.3% (P = 0.034). The median PFS in the experimental group was longer than that in the control group (15.3 months vs. 12 months). There was no significant difference in the incidence of common adverse reactions such as gastrointestinal reaction, bone marrow suppression, and cardiac toxicity between the two groups. No death was observed in the study period.
Conclusion: Continuous infusion of Endostar combined with SOX chemotherapy could be recommended for the treatment of liver metastasis from gastric cancer due to its high effective rate, and Endostar did not increase the incidence of adverse reactions.
Keywords: Efficacy; Endostar; gastric cancer; liver hepatic metastasis; safety.