Stage II-III Gastric Cancer Research Articles

Is the Prognostic Nutritional Index a Prognostic Marker for the Survival of Patients with Lymph-Node Positive Stage II-III Gastric Cancer Who Receive Adjuvant Chemotherapy?

The prognostic nutritional index (PNI), like other systemic inflammatory markers, has been shown to be a prognostic factor in various cancer patients. In this study, we aimed to show whether PNI calculated before adjuvant chemotherapy is a prognostic factor for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with lymph node-positive stage II-III gastric cancer. The PNI was calculated using the albumin and lymphocyte count. The PNI cut-off value was found to be 39.5. They were divided into two groups as being ≤ 39.5 (PNI low group) and > 39.5 (PNI high group). Our study included 168 patients with lymph node-positive stage II-III gastric cancer who received adjuvant chemotherapy. Of the patients, 116 (69.0%) were 65 years or younger, and 52 (31.0%) were over 65 years old. Of the patients, 117 (69.6%) were pT3, 51 (30.4%) were pT4. Seventy-three (43.4%) patients had pN1-2 disease and 95 (56.6%) patients had pN3 disease. The number of stage II patients was 73 (43.5%) and the number of stage III patients was 95 (56.5%). There were 73 patients with PNI ≤ 39.5 and 95 patients with PNI > 39.5. The mOS of the patients with low PNI group was 39.5 months, while the OS of the patients with high PNI group was 96.8 months (p = 0.002). In the group of patients with PNI low group, mDFS 24.4 months was significantly higher than those with PNI high group was 50.7 months (p = 0.021). The PNI score was statistically significant in univariate and multivariate analyzes for both DFS and OS. PNI can be used as an independent prognostic factor for both OS and DFS in patients lymph node-positive, stage II-III gastric cancer who will receive adjuvant chemotherapy.

The impact of preoperative waiting time in Stage II-III gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer: A population-based cohort study.

Gastrectomy remains the curative option in gastric cancer. However, the growing concern that preoperative waiting jeopardizes survival has not been fully addressed. The present population-based cohort study aimed to clarify the impact of preoperative waiting time (PreWT). We included patients with clinical Stage II-III gastric cancer who received curative surgery from 2008 to 2017 of Taiwan Cancer Registry. PreWT was defined as the time from endoscopic diagnosis to surgery. The prognostic impact on overall survival (OS) was evaluated with Cox and restricted cubic spline regressions. A total of 3059 patients with a median age of 68 years were evaluated. The median PreWT was 16 days (interquartile range, 11-24 days), and patients with a shorter PreWT were younger, had a more advanced disease and received adjuvant therapies. Despite a shorter OS occurring with prolonged PreWT (median OS by PreWT [days]: 7-13, 2.7 years; 14-20, 3.1 years; 21-27, 3.0 years; 28-34, 4.7 years; 35-31, 3.7 years; 42-48, 3.4 years; 49-118, 2.8 years; p = 0.029), the differences were not significant after adjustment. The Cox and restricted cubic spline regressions showed that prolonged PreWT was not a significant prognostic factor for OS (p = 0.719). The population-based study suggests that a PreWT of 49-118 days does not independently correlate with a poor prognosis in Stage II-III gastric cancer. The study provides rationale for a window period for preoperative therapies and patient optimization.

Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in locally advanced stage II-III gastric cancer: A single-centre retrospective study

BackgroundPD-1 blockade has been shown to have promising efficacy and acceptable safety profiles in advanced and metastatic gastric cancer; however, the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade-based immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) remain uncertain. MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of patients with LAGC who received neoadjuvant treatment followed by D2 radical resection at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from 2019 to 2021. The primary aim was to investigate the difference in pathological response rates between neoadjuvant PD-1 immunotherapy plus chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. Multivariable models for pathological complete response (pCR) were constructed to investigate the factors that facilitate pCR. Trial registration: QYFYWZLL27406. ResultsA total of 77 patients were included in the analysis, among whom 34 (44.2%) received neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade immunotherapy plus chemotherapy. A higher pCR rate was observed in the neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade immunotherapy plus chemotherapy group (8 of 34, 23.5% vs. 2 of 43, 4.7%, P=0.019). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of pCR revealed neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy regimen promoted pCR (OR 12.95, P=0.016). Regarding safety, 76.5% (26 of 34) of patients in the PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy group and 76.7% (33 of 43) of patients in the chemotherapy group experienced treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs), and grade 3 or worse adverse events were 29.4% (10 of 34) and 34.9% (15 of 43), respectively. ConclusionNeoadjuvant PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy induced a higher pCR rate than neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and the combined therapy was tolerable in LAGC patients.

Comparison of the Efficacy of S-1 Plus Oxaliplatin or Capecitabine Plus Oxaliplatin for Six and Eight Chemotherapy Cycles as Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients With Stage II-III Gastric Cancer After D2 Resection.

ObjectiveTo compare the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy with six or eight cycles of S-1 plus oxaliplatin (SOX) or Capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (XELOX) after D2 resection of GC.Design and participantsWe collected 470 cases of patients with TNM stage II and III GC who underwent D2 gastrectomy in the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital from January 2007 to December 2017 and received six or eight cycles of SOX or XELOX regimen. This study was designed to evaluate the prognosis of patients receiving six or eight cycles of SOX or XELOX chemotherapy and identify the appropriate number of chemotherapy cycles.ResultsAmong the 470 study participants [340 (72.3%) males; median age, 50 years (range, 24-76 years)], 355 and 115 received XELOX or SOX regimen chemotherapy, respectively. The number of 152 patients included in this study who received 6 and 8 cycles of chemotherapy in stage II and stage III without considering chemotherapy regimens were 125 and 27. The median DFS was, respectively, 14.9 months and 26.8 months (P = 0.08), the median OS was, respectively, 30.2 months and 30.8 months (P = 0.5), the difference was not statistically significant. Comprehensive survival analysis of XELOX and SOX group showed no significant difference for DFS (P = 0.29) and OS (P = 0.61). The total number of stage III GC patients who received six and eight cycles of chemotherapy was 92 and 19, respectively. The median DFS of patients who received six and eight cycles of chemotherapy was 14.6 and 23.2 months (P = 0.3), respectively. The median OS of patients who received six and eight cycles of chemotherapy was 26 and 30.6 months (P = 0.9), respectively. Comprehensive analysis of DFS (P=0.73) and OS (P=0.6) shows no difference between the XELOX group SOX groups. Subgroup analysis revealed significant differences in the gender (P = 0.05) and histological classification (P < 0.05) distribution.ConclusionRegardless of the XELOX regimen or the SOX regimen, similar survival benefits are observed in patients receiving six or eight chemotherapy cycles irrespective of the regimen used. The XELOX and SOX regimens are well tolerated in patients undergoing D2 resection of GC.

Risk factors of postoperative complication after total gastrectomy in advanced gastric cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Objective: At present, there are few studies focusing on the factors short-term complications after total gastrectomy in patients with advanced gastric cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). The purpose of this study is to provide a reference for clinical prevention of complications in these patients. Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted. Case inclusion criteria: (1) clinical stage II-III gastric cancer diagnosed by preoperative gastroscopy, pathology, abdominal CT, EUS or PET-CT; (2) evaluated suitable for NACT by MDT discussion; (3) no previous history of other malignant tumors and no concurrent tumor; (4) undergoing total gastrectomy+ D2 lymphadenectomy after NACT. Exclusion criteria: (1) age <18 or >80 years old; (2) severe concurrent diseases, and ASA classification>grade III; (3) stump gastric cancer or history of gastric surgery; (4) incomplete clinicopathological data. According to the above criteria, clinicopathological data of 140 advanced gastric cancer patients who underwent total gastrectomy after NACT in Chinese PLA General Hospital between June 2012 and June 2019 were collected, including 109 males and 31 females with mean age of (56.9±11.4) years and body mass indey (BMI) of (23.3±3.1) kg/m(2). Logistic analysis was used to analyze the relationship between postoperative complication and clinicopathological data. Factors in univariate analysis with P<0.05 were included in the multivariate analysis. Results: Postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo classification ≥ II) occurred in 35 cases (25.0%) and severe complications (Clavien-Dindo classification ≥ IIIa) occurred in 4 cases (2.9%), including 1 case of esophago-jejunal anastomotic leakage, 1 case of vena cava thrombosis, 1 case of pleural effusion, 1 case of septic shock during perioperative days resulting in death. Univariate analysis showed that BMI (P=0.011), cycle of NACT (P=0.027), tumor diameter (P=0.021), and vascular invasion (P=0.033) were associated with postoperative complication within 30 days, while open/laparoscopic total gastrectomy were not associated with postoperative complication (P=0.926). Multivariate analysis revealed that BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) (OR=3.294, 95% CI: 1.343-8.079, P=0.009) and < 4 cycles of NACT (OR=2.922, 95% CI: 1.217-7.016, P=0.016) were independent risk factors for postoperative complication. The 3-year overall survival rates of patients with or without complication were 54.4% and 64.0%, respectively (P=0.395), and 3-year disease-free survival rates were 47.4% and 52.9%, respectively (P=0.587). Conclusions: Higher BMI and fewer cycles of NACT are independent risk factors of postoperative complication in advanced gastric cancer patients undergoing total gastrectomy after NACT. No obvious association is found between postoperative complication and surgical approaches.

774P - The prognostic value of higher absolute lymphocyte counts for patients with surgically resected non-advanced gastric cancer

BackgroundLymphocytes are an important portion of the cell-mediated immune system, and play a significant role in immune responses to cancer. We investigated whether peripheral lymphocyte are associated with disease-free survival, gastric cancer-specific survival, and overall survival in surgically resected gastric cancer. MethodsWe retrospectively evaluated stage II-III gastric cancer patients who underwent curative surgical resection to analyze correlations among absolute lymphocyte counts and prognosis. Multivariable regression models adjusted for age, performance status, cancer stage, neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy use, HER2 expression were used to evaluate associations between absolute lymphocyte count, disease-free survival, gastric cancer-specific overall survival, and overall survival. ResultsA total of 338 stage II-III gastric cancer patients were diagnosed from January 2011 to December 2015. At the time of diagnosis, lymphopenic were 31 (9.1%) and no patients were neutropenic. Nearly one quarter (25.1%) were ever neutropenic (ANC <1.0 K/μL) and nearly half (52.6%) were lymphopenic (ALC <1.0 K/μL) with a mean minimum ALC value of 1.00 K/μL. On multivariable analysis, ever lymphopenia predicted higher recurrence rate [HR=12.4; 95% CI 4.9-31.3], higher gastric cancer-specific mortality [HR=22.7; 95% CI 6.5-79.1], and higher overall mortality [HR=36.6; 95% CI 10.3-130.0]. Five year disease-free survival was 57% for patients who were ever lymphopenic versus 96% for those who were not. Fiver year gastric cancer specific overall survival was 65% versus 98% for ever lymphopenic and never lymphopenic patients, respectively. ConclusionsHigher peripheral lymphocyte counts predicted lower recurrence rate and better overall survival from potentially curable gastric cancer, suggesting that immune function may enhance the effectiveness of non-advanced gastric cancer treatment. Legal entity responsible for the studyThe author. FundingHas not received any funding. DisclosureAll authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Preoperative controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score as a predictor of long-term outcome after curative resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II-III gastric Cancer

BackgroundThe prognostic value of preoperative controlling nutritional status (CONUT) has been reported in many malignancies. In present study, we aimed to clarify the prognostic impact of CONUT in gastric cancer (GC) receiving curative resection and adjuvant chemotherapy.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 697 consecutive patients undergoing curative surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy for Stage II-III GC between November 2000 and September 2012. Patients were classified into high (≥3) and low (≤2) CONUT groups according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.ResultsOf the included patients, 217 (31.1%) belonged to the high CONUT group. The high CONUT group had a significantly lower 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) rate than the low CONUT group (39.3 vs. 55.5%, P < 0.001). High CONUT score was significantly associated with larger tumor size, more lymph node metastasis, and poorer nutritional status, including lower body mass index (BMI), higher prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and the presence of preoperative anemia (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that CONUT score was an independent prognostic factor (HR: 1.553; 95% CI: 1.080–2.232; P = 0.017). Of note, in the low PNI group, CONUT score still effectively stratified CSS (P = 0.016). Furthermore, the prognostic significance of CONUT score was also maintained when stratified by TNM stage (all P < 0.05).ConclusionsCONUT score is considered a useful nutritional marker for predicting prognosis in stage II-III GC patients undergoing curative resection and adjuvant chemotherapy, and may help to facilitate the planning of preoperative nutritional interventions.

The influence of CYP2A6 polymorphism on adjuvant S-1 chemotherapy outcomes in patients with curatively resected gastric cancer

Objective: Oral fiuoropyrimidine S-1 contains tegafur, gimeracil, oteracil. Tegafur is the major active prodrug, which is metabolized to 5-Fu by cytochrome P4502A6 (CYP2A6). This research investigated the association between CYP2A6 polymorphisms and treatment outcomes of adjuvant S-1 in gastric cancer patients. Methods: A total of 200 patients diagnosed pathological stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ gastric cancer were included in this study, who were received adjuvant S-1 chemotherapy regimens after curative surgery (40 mg/m(2,) bid, d1-28, rest 2 weeks, every 6 weeks one cycle). Additionally, the wild-type allele (CYP2A6*1) and four variant alleles (CYP2A6*4, *7, *9, *10) were genotyped. Results: A total of 200 patients were enrolled in this study with a median follow-up of 46.5 months. The 3-year recurrence free survival rates were 95.9% for W/W (n=49), 83.1% for W/V (n=94), and 72.5% for V/V (n=57), with significant difference (P=0.032). Grade ≥3 hematologic toxicities of three genotype groups were without difference (10.2% vs 14.9% vs 10.5%, P=0.628). Conclusions: CYP2A6 genotypes correlate with the survival of S-1 chemotherapy. And its polymorphism detection can provide individualized guidance for adjuvant chemotherapy options in patients with gastric cancer.

Associations between serum CA724 and HER2 overexpression among stage II-III resectable gastric cancer patients: an observational study.

ObjectivesAssociations between serum tumor biomarkers and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression among locally advanced gastric cancer patients were yet to be determined and therefore warranted investigation.ResultsA total of 318 patients were analyzed. The odds ratios of CA724 were 4.79 (95% CI 1.55–14.79) and 6.29 (1.40–28.19) in comparing the HER2 (2+/3+) and HER2 (3+) with the negative group, respectively (p < 0.05). A combination of the four biomarkers yielded slightly but not significantly greater areas under the curve (AUC = 0.83; 0.71–0.94) than that of serum CA724 alone (0.80; 0.68–0.91); however, an index generated from the combination had better diagnostic performance with 85.7% sensitivity, 80.4% specificity and 97.8% negative predictive value to predict the strong overexpression of HER2 (3+). CA199, CEA or CA125 alone was not associated with HER2 overexpression. Leave-one-out cross-validation found a consistent association between serum CA724 and HER2 (2+/3+) overexpression.MethodsPatients undergoing radical gastrectomy from 8/2012 to 12/2013 and with pathological stage II–III gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed. HER2 expression of the surgical samples was estimated using immunohistochemistry; serum CA724, CA199, CEA and CA125 were preoperatively tested. Internal validation was performed using the leave-one-out approach.ConclusionsSerum CA724 is significantly associated with the overexpression of HER2 among locally advanced gastric cancer patients. The combination of CA724, CA199, CEA and CA125 is better than serum CA724 alone in predicting HER2 overexpression. External validation and further investigation of the biological mechanisms of these associations are required.

Associations between CYP2A6 polymorphisms and outcomes of adjuvant S-1 chemotherapy in patients with curatively resected gastric cancer.

Oral fluoropyrimidine S-1 contains tegafur, which is metabolized to 5-fluorouracil by cytochrome P450 2A6 (CYP2A6). We here examined associations between CYP2A6 polymorphisms and treatment outcomes of adjuvant S-1 in gastric cancer patients. Patients received adjuvant S-1 (40mg/m2 twice daily, days 1-28, every 6weeks for eight cycles) after curative surgery for pathological stage II-III gastric cancer. We analyzed the wild-type allele (W) (CYP2A6*1) and four variant alleles (V) (CYP2A6*4, *7, *9, *10) that abolish or reduce this enzyme activity. Patients (n=200) were enrolled between November 2007 and July 2013 with the following clinical characteristics: median age, 57years (range, 32-83 years); 128 men, 72 women. With a median follow-up of 46.4months, the 3-year relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 83.1% (95% CI, 77.7-88.5%) and 94.8% (95% CI, 91.6-98.0%), respectively. Genotype distributions were as follows: W/W (n=49, 24.5%), W/V (n=94, 47.0%), and V/V (n=57, 28.5%). Overall toxicity did not differ according to genotype for any grade (p=0.612) or grade ≥3 (p=0.143). However, RFS differed significantly according to CYP2A6 genotype. The 3-year RFS rates were 95.9% for W/W, 83.1% for W/V, and 72.5% for V/V (p=0.032). Carriers of W/V and V/V genotypes had a poorer RFS with a hazard ratio of 3.41 (95% CI, 1.01-11.52; p=0.049) and 4.03 (95% CI, 1.16-13.93; p=0.028), respectively, compared with the W/W genotype. CYP2A6 polymorphisms are not associated with toxicity of S-1 chemotherapy, but correlate with the efficacy of S-1 in the adjuvant setting for gastric cancer.

Randomized, multicenter, controlled evaluation of S-1 and oxaliplatin (SOX regimen) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer patients (RESONANCE trial).

90 Background: RESONANCE trial aims to improve 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) for patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and D2 surgery with chemotherapy postoperatively. We also evaluated the postoperative complications with and without preoperative chemotherapy to reveal the safety of SOX regimen. Methods: In this phase III multicenter study, patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC,7thed)stage II-IIII advanced gastric cancer are treated with two to four cycles of preoperative SOX chemotherapy, followed by gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy, and then another four to six postoperative cycles of SOX chemotherapy. Surgical and pathological quality control is performed. The primary endpoint is 3-year DFS, secondary endpoints are 3-year OS, D2/R0 rate, and toxicity and recurrence risk. The RESONANCE trial has been registered internationally, and twenty hospitals have participated in this trial. Results: Between February 2012 and to August 2013, 128 patients were enrolled in the neoadjuvant group , 103 patients were enrolled in the adjuvant group. Seventy-four of 128 patients underwent gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy after preoperative chemotherapy. In these 74 patients, 52 (70%) patients had clinical tumor response and 10 (14%) patients achieved histological response. Operative mortality was never encountered. R0 resection rate was 90.5% after neoadjuvant chemotherapy compared with 94.2% in adjuvant group (p=0.23). Postoperative complication rates in neoadjuvant and adjuvant groups were 33.8% and 37.9% respectively (p=0.58). Conclusions: Results of this study will demonstrate whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy strategy will be superior to adjuvant chemotherapy when combined with D2 surgery for AJCC stage II-III gastric cancer patients. Furthermore, it might be an important clinical evidence to verify benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer. Clinical trial information: NCT01583361.

Correlated analysis of 5 fluorouracil metabolic enzymes with tumor response after SOX regimen neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer

To analyze the impact of mRNA expression of oral fluoropyrimidine (S-1) metabolism on treatment outcomes in locally advanced gastric cancer patients on preoperative S-1 oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. Between June 2012 and March 2013, 32 patients with preoperative AJCC stage II-III gastric cancer patients were enrolled. They received S-1 (80 mg·m⁻² × d⁻¹, days 1-14) and oxaliplatin (130 mg/m², day 1) every 3 weeks and subsequently underwent gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy. Paired tumor and normal fresh frozen tissues were collected to evaluate the mRNA levels of thymidylate synthase (TS), thymidine phosphorylase (TP), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) and OPRT with quantitative reverse transcription(RT) -PCR. Among them, 21 (65.6%) patients had clinical tumor response and histological response occurred in 10 (31.3%) patients. Quantitative RT-PCR results showed that OPRT mRNA expression was significantly higher in clinical tumor responders than non-responders (3.95 ± 0.81 vs 1.79 ± 0.64, P = 0.005). Diffuse-type gastric cancer patients (n = 22) demonstrated higher OPRT expression levels than intestinal-type(n = 10) ones (2.54 ± 0.75 vs 1.49 ± 0.56, P = 0.014). The mRNA expressions of TS and TP in gastric cancer tissues with lymph node (LN) metastasis (n = 13) were significantly higher than those in gastric cancer tissues without LN metastasis (n = 19, both P < 0.05) .Similar results were not found for comparing dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase expression levels (all P > 0.05). OPRT, TS and TP may become potential predictive biomarkers in advanced gastric cancer patients on oral fluoropyrimidine (S-1)-based chemotherapy.