Background & objective: Clinical study showed that paclitaxel (PTX) may be used to treat gastric cancer. The combination of PTX and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is effective, and safe in treating advanced gastric cancer. This study was to investigate efficacy of biweekly regimen of high dose of leucovorin (CF), 5-FU, and PTX on advanced gastric cancer, and its toxicities.
Methods: Twenty patients with advanced gastric cancer received biweekly regimen of CF/5-FU/PTX (200 mg/m(2) of CF, intravenous infusion for 2 h, day 1; 500 mg/m(2) of 5-FU, intravenous injection, day 1; 1 500 mg/m(2) of 5-FU, intravenous infusion for 46 h, day 1, 2; 90 mg/m(2) of PTX, intravenous infusion for 3 h,day 1). Efficacy, and toxicities were evaluated after 4 cycles.
Results: Total response rate was 65.0% (13/20) with 2 (10.0%) cases of complete remission (CR), and 11 (55.0%) cases of partial remission (PR). No treatment- related death occurred. Stomatitis, hand-foot syndrome, and loss of hair were main toxicities.
Conclusion: Biweekly regimen of high dose of CF, 5-FU, and PTX may achieve a high response rate with tolerable toxicities in patients with advanced gastric cancer.