Combination chemotherapy of 5-fluorouracil and low-dose cisplatin in advanced and recurrent gastric cancer: A multicenter retrospective study in Nagasaki, Japan

Background: Combination therapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin (CDDP) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of gastric cancer. Patients and Methods: The efficacy and safety of the combination therapy consisting of 5-FU and low-dose CDDP were assessed in 37 patients with advanced or recurrent gastric cancer. One course consisted of continuous drip infusion of 5-FU (330 mg/m(2)/day) on days 1-5 (7) + 5-day drip infusion of CDDP (5 mg/m(2)/day) for 4 weeks. The patients were treated with at least one course. Results: The complete response (CR) + partial response (PR) rate was 35.1% and median survival-time (MST) was 7.1 months. There were no grade 3 or more adverse effects. Conclusion: Our results suggest that this mode of combination therapy leads to a fairly favorable outcome with few adverse effects in patients with advanced and recurrent gastric cancer.