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Combined Oxaliplatin, Fluorouracil, Folinic Acid Effective in Advanced Gastric Cancer

A combined regimen of oxaliplatin, fluorouracil (5-FU) and folinic acid is effective in treating patients with metastatic or locally advanced gastric (M/AG) cancers.

French researchers say the combination has an acceptable safety profile and "may prove to be a suitable alternative regimen in this indication."

Investigators from Hopital Saint-Antoine, Hopital Tenon and Hopital St. Joseph in Paris treated 53 M/AG cancer patients (69 percent male, median age 61) with the combined regimen. It included: oxaliplatin 100 mg/m2 and folinic acid 400 mg/m2 in a two-hour intravenous infusion, followed by 5-FU bolus 400 mg/m2 in a 10-minute infusion and then 5-FU 3,000 mg/m2 in a 46-hour continuous infusion, every 14 days.

A median of 10 cycles was administered per patient. The total was 468 complete cycles.

Seventy percent of the patients were newly diagnosed, with 87 percent having metastatic disease. All had histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma.

A median of three organs were involved. Disease sites included the lymph nodes (67 percent), stomach (65 percent) and liver (61 percent).

Forty nine participants could be assessed in median follow-up of 18.6 months. Best response rate (44.9 percent) included two patients with complete responses and 20 with partial responses. As well, eight patients had complementary treatment, six with surgery and two with chemo/radiotherapy.

Median time to progression was 6.2 months. Median overall survival was 8.6 months.
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2002; 20: 4543-4548. "Phase II Study of Oxaliplatin, Fluorouracil, and Folinic Acid in Locally Advanced or Metastatic Gastric Cancer Patients."

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