Published online Jan 15, 2023. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v15.i1.143
Peer-review started: November 14, 2022
First decision: November 30, 2022
Revised: December 6, 2022
Accepted: December 21, 2022
Article in press: December 21, 2022
Published online: January 15, 2023
Processing time: 57 Days and 8.6 Hours
Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are often used for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Although chemotherapy is one of the main treatment options, there is no unified or standardized treatment; therefore, the identification of effective treatment options for patients with advanced gastric cancer is particularly important.
The conventional chemotherapy regimen for advanced gastric cancer consists of oxaliplatin combined with fluorouracil. However, studies have shown that treatment with only oxaliplatin combined with fluorouracil is not very effective in advanced gastric cancer.
This study is designed to investigate the short-term efficacy and influencing factors of irinotecan combined with the conventional chemotherapy regimen of oxaliplatin and fluorouracil in advanced gastric cancer patients. The results can provide valuable reference for clinical treatment and further study.
Eighty patients with advanced gastric cancer were divided into two groups. The control group was given preoperative routine chemotherapy. The observation group was treated with irinotecan in addition to the chemotherapy given to the control group. The short-term efficacy of treatment in the two groups, as well as tumor marker levels and quality of life before and after treatment were evaluated.
The short-term treatment effect in the observation group was better than that in the control group. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were similar between two groups. The incidence rates of grade III-IV diarrhea and grade III-IV thrombocytopenia in the observation group were markedly higher than those in the control group. The age and proportion of tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage IV patients were notably higher, and the Karnofsky Performance Scale score was apparently lower in patients with ineffective chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy combined with irinotecan in patients with advanced gastric cancer has a good short-term efficacy and can significantly reduce serum tumor markers and improve the quality of life of patients. The efficacy may be affected by the age and TNM stage of the patients.
The long-term efficacy of chemotherapy combined with irinotecan need to be further studied.