Second-line Chemotherapy with Irinotecan Plus Cisplatin for Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of irinotecan combined with cisplatin in patients with advanced gastric cancer after failure of first-line chemotherapy. Methods Totally 36 patients with metastatic gastric cancer were enrolled.Patients received intravenous CPT-11 250 mg/m2 and DDP 75 mg/ m2 on the first day,every 3 weeks. Results Thirty-five patients were evaluable for response.A total of 117 cycles of chemotherapy (average 3.34) were administered.The overall response rate and disease control rate were 25.7% and 54.3%,respectively.The median time to progression were 4.6 months (3.2-6.5 months).All 35 patients were evaluable for safety.The most common adverse events were leukopenia (77.1%),neutropenia (74.3%),nausea and vomiting (57.1%),and diarrhea (28.6%).The occurrence rates of these grade 3-4 events were 28.6%,28.6%,34.1% and 20.0%,respectively.All adverse events were tolerable. Conclusion Irinotecan plus cisplatin is effective and well tolerated in Chinese patients with advanced gastric cancer after failure of first-line chemotherapy.