Efficacy and tolerability of chemotherapy with modified dose-dense TCF regimen (TCF-dd) in locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer: final results of a phase II trial

Abstract

Background: We previously studied a dose-dense TCF (TCF-dd) regimen demonstrating its feasibility and an activity comparable to epirubicin-based chemotherapy and TCF q3w in terms of overall survival and time to progression (TTP). We report here the final results of a phase II study of chemotherapy with a modified TCF-dd regimen in locally advanced or metastatic gastric cancer (MGC). Methods and study design: Patients with histologically confirmed measurable MGC, not previously treated for advanced disease, received docetaxel 70 mg/m2day 1, cisplatin 60 mg/m2day 1, l-folinic acid 100 mg/m2days 1 and 2, followed by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 400 mg/m2bolus days 1 and 2, and then 600 mg/m2as a 22-h continuous infusion days 1 and 2, every 14 days, plus pegfilgrastim 6 mg on day 3. Patients aged ≥65 years received the same schedule with a dose reduction of 30 %. Results: Study duration: December 2007–November 2010. Forty-six consecutive patients were enrolled (78 % male, 22 % female; median age, 66 years, range, 38–76 years; ECOG PS: 0, 48 %, 1, 46 %). Primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). A median of four cycles (range, one to six) was administered. Forty-three patients were evaluated for response (93.5 %) and all for toxicity: 3 complete response (CR), 25 partial response (PR), 10 stable disease (SD), and 5 progressive disease (PD) were observed, for an ORR by intention to treat (ITT) of 61 % (95 % CI 47–75). Median overall survival (OS) was 17.63 months (95 % CI, 13.67–20.67); median progression-free survival was 8.9 months (95 % CI, 6.5–13.4). Twenty-one patients (46.0 %) were treated at full doses without any delay, thus respecting the dose-dense criterion. Most frequent grade 3–4 toxicities were neutropenia (20 %), leukopenia (4 %), thrombocytopenia (2 %), anemia (2 %), febrile neutropenia (6 %), asthenia (22 %), diarrhea (4 %), nausea/vomiting (11 %), and hypokalemia (6 %). Overall, TCF-dd was shown to be safe. Conclusions: The TCF-dd regimen in locally advanced or MGC is confirmed to be feasible and very active and needs to be further tested in randomized studies.