The incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding, thromboembolic events and gastrointestinal perforation during chemotherapy with metastatic or unresectable gastric cancer has been unknown. To clarify the incidence of these events, we reviewed the clinical records of our hospital.
Patients and methods: We investigated metastatic or unresectable gastric cancer patients who received chemotherapy during January 2002 to December 2006. Grade≥3 (CTCAE v3.0) adverse events from the first day of chemotherapy to 1 month after the last day of chemotherapy were investigated.
Results: A total of 292 patients received chemotherapy. Patient characteristics were as follows: median age 63.5 years (range, 28 to 87); performance status 0/1/2/3: 129/129/31/3; male: female, 206:86, histopathological type intestinal/diffuse/unclassified-adenocarcinoma/others: 91/139/58/4. We found the incidence of Grade≥3 gastrointestinal bleeding in 7 patients (2.4%), thromboembolic events in 5 patients (1.7%) and gastrointestinal perforation in 3 patients (1.0%). Thromboembolic events in patients under 55 years of age were associated with a higher incidence (p=0. 0046).
Conclusion: The incidence was not so high as expected. We should be aware of the frequency of these toxicities in the treatment of gastric cancer.