Abstract
14132 Background: Advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients manifesting with acute disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and diffuse bone marrow metastasis have inevitably led a fatal outcome within a median of 2–4 weeks. We previously reported that weekly 24-hour infusional high-dose 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV) (HDFL: 5-FU of 2,000–2,600 mg/m2/wk and LV 300 mg/m2/wk) chemotherapy with negligible myelosuppression has been successfully used in the treatment of these patients (Yeh KH & Cheng AL, Br J Haematol 1998;100:769–72). The study planned to determine the treatment outcome in a larger group of this disease entity being treated with HDFL-based chemotherapy. Methods: This is a retrospective study. Bone marrow study is routinely done for gastric cancer patients with DIC in our institute. We searched for gastric cancer patients with DIC or bone marrow metastasis from 1994 to 2005. Results: A total of 21 AGC patients (M: 13, F: 8) who had unequivocal evidence of DIC or biopsy-proven bone marrow metastasis have been diagnosed at National Taiwan University Hospital between 1994 and 2005. At initial presentations, 18 patients had evident laboratory findings of DIC. Nine of them had symptomatic DIC and 8 patients had significant thrombocytopenia (< 50,000/mm3). All patients received HDFL-based chemotherapy as the initial treatment. Seventeen of them showed significant improvement in both clinical symptoms and laboratory abnormalities of DIC. The median overall survival (OS) of the whole group of patients since the diagnosis of DIC or bone marrow metastasis was 7 months (range: 1 week–3 years). Conclusions: Manifestations with acute DIC and bone marrow metastasis in AGC patients constitute a rare disease entity with a grave prognosis. Before introduction of HDFL for the treatment of AGC at our institute, this group of patients was extremely difficult to treat, and usually died within 2–4 weeks. Current analysis revealed that OS of this group of patients has been improved up to a median of 7 months, suggesting a significant improvement in the treatment outcome. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
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