Thirty-five patients with locally advanced gastric carcinoma were treated with combined modalities of external radiation therapy (RT) and 5-FU based chemotherapy at the Division of Radiation Therapy, Department of Radiology, Kangnam St, Mary's Hospital, Catholic University Medical College from May 1983 to May 1987. The purpose of this retrospective study is for the evaluation of the palliative response to RT. There were 25 men and 10 women. The age ranged from 38 to 80 years (median: 56 years). The pathologic classification showed 14 (40%) poorly differentiated, 12(34%) moderately differentiated, 3 (9%) well differentiated adenocarcinomas, 2 mucinous cystadenocarcinomas, 1 signet ring cell and 3 not specified ones. The time intervals from the initial surgicopathologic diagnosis to the starting day of RT was within 1 year for 18 (51%), 1 to 2 years for 8 (23%) and 2 to 3 years for 5 (14%), respectively. The major symptoms to be treated were pain in 30 (86%), mass for 29 (83%), obstruction for 11 (31%) and jaundice for 9 (26%) patients. The response rate (patient number of positive response/total patient number) according to treated radiation doses were observed as follows; 14/16(88%) for 40~50 gy, 8/10 (80%) for over 50 gy, 6/8 (75%) for 30~40 gy and 8/15 (53%) for 20~30 gy in decreasing order. The over all survival was 3.6 months and that of 5FU+RT, FAM+RT and RT alone groups were 4.6 months, 3.7 months and 2.5 months respectively. Complications induced by RT were nausea and vomiting in 16 (46%), diarrhea in 7 (20%), leukopenia in 6 (17%) and anemia and intercurrent pneumonia in each 3 (9%) patients in decreasing order.
Adenocarcinoma ; Anemia ; Classification ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; Diagnosis ; Diarrhea ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Fluorouracil ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Leukopenia ; Male ; Nausea ; Pneumonia ; Retrospective Studies ; Vomiting