Gastric Cancer: Second Line Chemotherapy

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Shuichi Hironaka, MD
Clinical Trial Promotion Department, Chiba Cancer Center
666-2 Nitona-cho Chuo-ku Chiba-shi
Chiba, 260-8717 Japan

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Hironaka: This is the first randomized phase III trial comparing paclitaxel and irinotecan in second-line chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer. This study showed that no statistically significant difference was observed between paclitaxel and irinotecan for overall survival. However, both are reasonable second-line treatment options for advanced gastric cancer.

MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Hironaka: Second-line chemotherapy is recommended for advanced gastric cancer with good performance status. If gastric cancer patient without severe peritoneal metastasis, irinotecan and paclitaxel are good treatment options.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Hironaka: Palitaxel or irinotecan will be used as a platform for next randomized trial investigating additional benefits of molecular targeting agents in second-line chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer.

Citation:

Randomized, Open-Label, Phase III Study Comparing Irinotecan With Paclitaxel in Patients With Advanced Gastric Cancer Without Severe Peritoneal Metastasis After Failure of Prior Combination Chemotherapy Using Fluoropyrimidine Plus Platinum: WJOG 4007 Trial

Shuichi Hironaka, Shinya Ueda, Hirofumi Yasui, Tomohiro Nishina, Masahiro Tsuda, Takehiko Tsumura, Naotoshi Sugimoto, Hideki Shimodaira, Shinya Tokunaga, Toshikazu Moriwaki, Taito Esaki, Michitaka Nagase, Kazumasa Fujitani, Kensei Yamaguchi, Takashi Ura, Yasuo Hamamoto, Satoshi Morita, Isamu Okamoto, Narikazu Boku, and Ichinosuke Hyodo

JCO JCO.2012.48.5805; published online on November 4, 2013;

Last Updated on November 6, 2013 by Marie Benz MD FAAD