Induction Chemotherapy, Chemoradiotherapy and Surgery in Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer Patients

Induction Chemotherapy, Chemo-radiotherapy and Surgery in Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer Patients: Long Term Results From a Single Institution.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a neoadjuvant approach in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer and the identification of prognostic factors.

Patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (T3-4 and/or N+) are included. Initially, patients are diagnosed by computerized tomography scan and endoscopic ultrasound.

The neoadjuvant strategy consists of 3-4 cycles of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Chemoradiotherapy comprises weekly chemotherapy concurrently with daily external beam radiotherapy up to 45 Gy). Surgery is scheduled 4 to 6 weeks after the end of CRT. Pathological response is graded according to the Becker criteria. Statistical analysis is performed IBM SPSS v20.

Estimate whether R0 resection rate, pathological response degree, patterns of recurrence and long-term outcomes may be initially predicted by dynamic prognostic factors as tumor size, neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR)

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the stomach
• Age ≥18 years old
• Performance Status- Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-1
• Body mass index ≥ 18
• No prior chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy
• TNM stage of T3-T4 and/or positive regional lymph nodes (N+) by endoscopic ultrasound or computed tomography (CT)
• No evidence of metastasis (M0)
• Adequate hematological, liver and renal functions (ALT and AST≤2.5 UNL, total bilirubin ≤1.5 UNL, and serum creatinine ≤1.5 UNL)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with previous (less than 10 years) or current history of malignant neoplasms, except for curatively treated
• Patients with evidence of severe or uncontrolled systemic disease
• Medically unfit for chemotherapy
• Tumors involving the esophageal junction, comprising siewert I to III