Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with a combination of irinotecan and cisplatin in advanced gastric cancer--a case report

We report a case of advanced gastric carcinoma successfully treated with a combination of irinotecan and cisplatin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The patient, a 78-year-old man, had type 2 gastric cancer, which had metastasized to the paraaortic lymph nodes. He was treated with irinotecan, 70 mg on day 1 and day 15, and cisplatin, 80 mg on day 1. The course was repeated every 4 weeks. Two courses of treatment resulted in a marked reduction of both the primary tumor and lymph nodes. Subsequently, the patient underwent curative surgery consisting of total gastrectomy, splenectomy, and D3 lymph node dissection. No surgical complications were observed. On microscopic examination, only a few tumor cells were detected in the granulation tissues of the resected stomach and in the lymph nodes. This would be the first case to demonstrate the effectiveness and the safety of irinotecan and cisplatin used in the neoadjuvant setting for treatment of advanced gastric carcinoma.