Tegafur-uracil as palliative chemotherapy in refractory locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer: A Brazilian single center experience

Abstract

4243 Background: For patients with locally advanced gastric cancer that appears unresectable for cure, several treatments options seem to have a favorable impact on disease control and survival. In the setting of metastatic disease, many active chemotherapy agents can produce meaningful responses, but the duration of response is often limited. Oral agents, as tegafur-uracil, could demonstrate both a survival and quality of life benefit. The aim of this study is to assess response rate (RR), time to progression (TTP), overall survival (OS) and toxicity of tegafur-uracil as second line chemotherapy in locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer in our Institution. Methods: We studied retrospectively 55 patients with locally advanced or metastatic gastric and cancer in our Institution from January 2000 to January 2004. Patients were treated with differents lines regimens of palliative chemotherapy and, after progression, submitted to tegafur-uracil treatment (300 mg/d day 1–21, cycles each 28 days). Treatment was maintained until progression or unexpected toxicity. Results: From the population, 42 were male patients and 13 were female patients. A total of 25 patients presented locally advanced disease and 30 patients presented metastatic disease (sites of metastasis). Sixty nine percent of the patients received one line of chemotherapy before tegafur-uracil, and 20% received two or more previous lines of treatment. The number of cycles of tegafur-uracil were superior to 3 in 70% of the cases, and 27.3% of the patients received more than 7 cycles. The overall clinical response was 47.3% (23 patients having partial response/stable disease), with 32 patients having progression of disease. Median TTP was 3.2 months. Median OS was 14.6 months. No grade 4 toxicity or death related to treatment were observed. Conclusions: Tegafur-uracil is a feasible agent in refractory locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, with interesting responses and manageable safety profile. No significant financial relationships to disclose.