Biweekly irinotecan and cisplatin as second-line chemotherapy in pretreated patients with advanced gastric cancer: a multicenter phase II study

The current phase II study was conducted to evaluate the response rate and safety of a combination regimen of biweekly irinotecan plus cisplatin in pretreated patients with advanced gastric cancer. Patients with previously treated metastatic or recurrent gastric cancer received intravenous irinotecan 70 mg/m2 and cisplatin 30 mg/m2 on day 1 and 15 every 4-week cycle. Thirty-two patients were enrolled in the current study. Of these, 31 patients were assessable for efficacy and all for toxicity. No complete response and 5 partial responses were confirmed, giving an overall response rate of 15.6% (95% CI; 2.3-28.9%). The median time to progression and median overall survival for all patients was 113 days and 184 days, respectively. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 6 patients (18.8%), yet no febrile neutropenia was observed. In addition, grade 3 anorexia was observed in 4 patients (12.5%) and grade 3 diarrhea occurred in 2 patients (6.2%). The combination chemotherapy of biweekly irinotecan and cisplatin was found to be moderately effective and well tolerated in pretreated patients with advanced gastric cancer. Accordingly, this regimen can be regarded as an important second-line treatment option for advanced gastric cancer.