Clinical study of capecitabine or S-1 as maintenance treatment to patients with advanced gastric cancer / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and adverse effect caused by capecitabine compared with S-1 as maintenance treatment of patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Methods A total of 123 AGC patients who did not suffer disease progression after first-line chemotherapy were randomized into three groups. The capecitabine group(Cap)received maintenance chemotherapy with capecitabine(1000 mg/m2 twice daily for 14 days,21 days/cycle),and the S-1 group(S1)received S-1(40,50,or 60 mg according to the body surface area and orally administered twice a day for 14 days ,21 days/cycle). The observation group was given the support-ive treatment. Patients kept this chemotherapy regimens until disease progressed or with intolerant toxicity. Re-sults The disease control rate was 70.7%in the Cap group and 80.5%in the S1 group(P=0.304). The median time of progression was 8.3 months in the Cap group and 8.5 months in the S1 group(P = 0.448). Maintenance chemotherapy groups showed better responses in the treatment group than the observation group ,which demonstrat-ed a median progression of 6.7 months(P<0.001). The median overall survival time was 15.3 months in the Cap group and 15.7 months in the S1 group(P = 0.637). Maintenance chemotherapy groups showed better responses than the observation group ,which demonstrated a median survival of 12.8 months (P < 0.05). The main side effects included hyperpigmentation,bone marrow suppression,nausea and vomiting and hand-foot syndrome. No death occurred in relation to the therapy. Conclusion The effectiveness of capecitabine and S-1 as maintenance chemotherapy in AGC patients after the first-line chemotherapy are similar,and both can prolong the time of overall survival. And the adverse reactions can be tolerated.