Adjuvant Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) plus Docetaxel-Cisplatin-Fluorouracil (DCF) versus CRT plus Fluorouracil-Folinic Acid (FUFA) in Stage III Gastric Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the optimal management strategy in resectable gastric cancer. There is a debate about the efficacy of more aggressive CRT plus chemotherapy regimens in adjuvant setting. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of adjuvant CRT plus docetaxel-cisplatin-fluorouracil (DCF) versus CRT plus fluorouracil-folinic acid (FUFA) in stage III gastric cancer. METHODS: Patients with a diagnosis of stage III gastric cancer treated with adjuvant therapy after curative resection were analyzed. Patients' disease characteristics and impacts of the regimens on median disease-free survival (DFS) and median overall survival (OS) were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-one patients (102 in FUFA arm and 59 in DCF arm) with a median age of 56.0 (29-79) were evaluated. In the DCF arm, there were more renal toxicities (31.6% vs 6.4% P < 0.001), emergency department admissions (64.9% vs 23.7%, P < 0.001), and dose reductions/treatment modifications in the DCF arm (51.6% vs 37.2, P < 0.001). The median follow-up was 23 months (1-124) in the FUFA arm and 26.0 months (1-77) in the DCF arm. The median DFS was 25.0 months (%95 CI, 12.7-37.2) in the DCF arm and 17.0 months (%95 CI, 2.6-31.3) in the FUFA arm, P = 0.66. The median OS was 28.0 months (%95 CI, 17.0-38.9) in the DCF arm and 25.0 months (%95 CI, 11.9-36.0) in the FUFA arm, P = 0.70. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, when compared with FUFA regimen, more aggressive therapy with DCF was more toxic and did not improve OS in adjuvant setting of stage III gastric cancer.

Mean platelet volume and response to the first line therapy in newly diagnosed adult immune thrombocytopenia patients: a retrospective study

Background/aim: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is treated by corticosteroids and/or intravenous immune globulin as the first line treatment when necessary. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a marker of platelet production and function. In this study, we aimed to search the relationship between the MPV and the treatment response in ITP patients and it was hypothesized that MPV can be used as a predictor of the response. Materials and methods: The 70 newly diagnosed adult primary ITP patients and 70 of healthy people were included. MPV between ITP and healthy population, MPV in the diagnosis and after the treatment between the responders and the nonresponders were compared. Results: The responders had significantly higher MPV and the nonresponders had significantly lower MPV than the healthy population (11.09 and 10.21 fL, P = 0.03; 9.38 and 10.21 fL, P = 0.001). MPV in the diagnosis was significantly higher in the responders than the nonresponders (11.09 and 9.38 fL, P = 0.005). MPV significantly changed after the treatment in the responders (11.09 to 9.32 fL, P = 0.004). Conclusion: MPV can be used as a predictor of early response to the first line treatment in newly diagnosed adult primary ITP patients.