Yinyang Gongji Pills have the effects of strengthening the body resistance to eliminate pathogenic factors, removing stasis, and reducing swelling, which is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) formula for treating intestinal accumulation. A real-world, registered, and single-arm clinical trial was conducted to observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Yinyang Gongji Pills combined with capecitabine in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer and analyze the clinical characteristics of the patients. A total of 60 patients with advanced colorectal cancer who refused or could not tolerate standard treatment of western medicine were included in the study. They were treated with Yinyang Gongji Pills combined with capecitabine until disease progression or intolerable adverse events occurred. The main observation indicators were progression-free survival(PFS) and safety. The treatment effects of the patients under different baseline characteristics were analyzed. The clinical trial has found that the median PFS of all enrolled patients was 7.3 months, with 30.1% of patients having a PFS exceeding 12.0 months. Layered analysis showed that the median PFS of patients with the onset site being the colon and rectum were respectively 8.4 and 4.7 months. The median PFS of patients with high, medium, and low tumor burden were respectively 7.0, 4.7, and 10.8 months. The median PFS of patients with wild-type and mutant-type RAS/BRAF were respectively 7.9 and 6.9 months. The median PFS of patients with KPS scores ≥80 and ≤70 were respectively 7.9 and 6.5 months. The median PFS of patients treated with Yinyang Gongji Pills for ≥6, 3-6, and ≤3 months were respectively 8.0, 5.2, and 4.2 months. The median PFS of patients with spleen, kidney, liver, and lung syndrome differentiation in TCM were respectively 8.3, 6.7, 7.3, and 5.6 months. The median PFS of patients with TCM pathological factors including phlegm, dampness, and blood stasis were respectively 7.0, 7.3, and 6.5 months. Common adverse reactions include anemia, decreased white blood cells, decreased appetite, fatigue, and hand foot syndrome, with incidence rates being respectively 44.2%, 34.6%, 42.3%, 32.7%, and 17.3%. The results showed that the combination of Yinyang Gongji Pills and capecitabine demonstrated potential clinical efficacy and good safety in this study. The patients have clinical characteristics such as low tumor burden, onset site at the colon, KPS scores ≥ 80, long duration of oral TCM, and TCM syndrome differentiation including spleen or liver.
Humans ; Capecitabine/adverse effects* ; Colorectal Neoplasms/mortality* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/adverse effects* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Aged ; Adult ; Treatment Outcome

Both carcinoembryonic antigen and CA19-9 are considered as predictive markers of intestinal cancer recurrence and metastasis.In addition,CA19-9 elevation is considered as a predictive marker of connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease.The incidence of oxaliplatin and capecitabine-associated interstitial lung disease is low,and there is no report about CA19-9 as a predictive marker of oxaliplatin and capecitabine-associated interstitial lung disease.This paper reports a case of interstitial lung disease with CA19-9 elevation caused by oxaliplatin and capecitabine adjuvant therapy for ileocecal carcinoma.The change trend of serum carcinoembryonic antigen in this patient was consistent with tumor recurrence and metastasis,and that of serum CA19-9 was consistent with the severity of interstitial lung disease.Therefore,CA19-9 elevation after intestinal cancer surgery does not necessarily indicate the tumor recurrence and metastasis,and attention should be paid to the possibility of oxaliplatin and capecitabine-associated interstitial lung disease.
Humans ; CA-19-9 Antigen/blood* ; Capecitabine ; Cecal Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Deoxycytidine/administration & dosage* ; Fluorouracil/administration & dosage* ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial/blood* ; Organoplatinum Compounds/administration & dosage* ; Oxaliplatin

Objective: To explore the application and efficacy of paclitaxel liposome in the treatment of advanced breast cancer among Chinese population in the real world. Methods: The clinical characteristics of patients with advanced breast cancer who received paclitaxel liposome as salvage treatment from January 1, 2016 to August 31, 2019 in 11 hospitals were collected and retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome was progression free survival (PFS), and the secondary outcome included objective response rate (ORR) and safety. The survival curve was drawn by Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox regression model were used for the multivariate analysis. Results: Among 647 patients with advanced breast cancer who received paclitaxel liposome, the first-line treatment accounted for 43.3% (280/647), the second-line treatment accounted for 27.7% (179/647), and the third-line and above treatment accounted for 29.1% (188/647). The median dose of first-line and second-line treatment was 260 mg per cycle, and 240 mg in third line and above treatment. The median period of paclitaxel liposome alone and combined chemotherapy or targeted therapy is 4 cycles and 6 cycles, respectively. In the whole group, 167 patients (25.8%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with capecitabine±trastuzumab (TX±H), 123 patients (19.0%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome alone (T), and 119 patients (18.4%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with platinum ± trastuzumab (TP±H), 108 patients (16.7%) were treated with paclitaxel liposome combined with trastuzumab ± pertuzumab (TH±P). The median PFS of first-line and second-line patients (5.5 and 5.5 months, respectively) were longer than that of patients treated with third line and above (4.9 months, P<0.05); The ORR of the first line, second line, third line and above patients were 46.7%, 36.8% and 28.2%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that event-free survival (EFS) and the number of treatment lines were independent prognostic factors for PFS. The common adverse events were myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reactions, hand foot syndrome and abnormal liver function. Conclusion: Paclitaxel liposomes is widely used and has promising efficacy in multi-subtype advanced breast cancer.
Humans ; Female ; Breast Neoplasms/chemically induced* ; Paclitaxel/adverse effects* ; Liposomes/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Trastuzumab/therapeutic use* ; Capecitabine/therapeutic use* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/adverse effects*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Chaihu Guizhi Decoction (CHGZD) combined with capecitabine on growth and apoptosis of subcutaneous triple-negative breast cancer xenografts in nude mice and explore the possible mechanism. METHODS: Nude mouse models bearing subcutaneous triple-negative breast cancer xenografts were randomized into 6 groups (n=10) for treatment with distilled water (model group), low (10.62 g/kg), medium (21.23 g/kg) and high (42.46 g/kg) doses of CHGZD, capecitabine (0.2 mg/kg), or the combination of CHGZD (42.46 g/kg) and capecitabine (0.2 mg/k) once daily for 21 consecutive days. The general condition of mice was observed, and after 21-day treatments, the tumors were dissected for measurement of tumor volume and weight and histopathological examination with HE staining. Serum IL-6 levels of the mice were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the expression levels of IL-6, STAT3, p-STAT3, Bax, Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 in the tumor tissues were detected using real-time PCR and Western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with those in the model group, the tumor-bearing mice receiving treatments with CHGZD showed significantly increased food intake with good general condition, sensitive responses, increased body weight, and lower tumor mass (P < 0.01). Compared with capecitabine treatment alone, treatment with CHGZD alone at the medium and high doses and the combined treatment all resulted in significantly higher tumor inhibition rates (P < 0.01), induced obvious tumor tissue degeneration and reduced the tumor cell density. Treatments with CHGZD, both alone and in combination with capecitabine, significantly decreased serum IL-6 level, lowered the mRNA expression levels of IL-6 and STAT3, the protein expressions of IL-6, STAT3 and P-STAT3 (P < 0.05), and the mRNA and protein expressions of Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 (P < 0.05), and increased the mRNA and protein expressions of Bax in the tumor tissues (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION CHGZD combined with capecitabine can significantly inhibit tumor growth in nude mice bearing triple-negative breast cancer xenografts, the mechanism of which may involve the inhibition of IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway and regulation of Bax, Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 expressions to suppress tumor cell proliferation and differentiation and induce cell apoptosis.
Animals ; Capecitabine/pharmacology* ; Cyclin D1/metabolism* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Heterografts ; Humans ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism* ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism* ; STAT3 Transcription Factor/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolism*

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness, safety, and prognosis of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) for Siewert type II and III adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction (AEG). Methods: This study is a prospective randomized controlled clinical study (NCT01962246). AEG patients who were treated at the Third Department of Surgery of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from February 2012 to June 2016 were included. All of the enrolled patients were diagnosed with type II or III locally advanced AEG gastric cancer (T2-4N0-3M0 or T1N1-3M0) by gastroscopy and CT before operation; the longitudinal axis of the lesion was ≤ 8 cm; no anti-tumor treatment was previously given and no contraindications of chemotherapy and surgery were found. Case exclusion criteria: serious diseases accompanied by liver and kidney, cardiovascular system and other vital organs; allergy to capecitabine or oxaliplatin drugs or excipients; receiving any form of chemotherapy or other research drugs; pregnant or lactating women; patients with diseases resulting in difficulty to take capecitabine or with concurrent tumors. Based on sample size estimation, a total of 150 AEG patients were enrolled. Using the random number table method, the enrolled patients were divided into the nCRT group and the direct operation group with 75 cases in each group. The nCRT group received XELOX chemotherapy (capecitabine+ oxaliplatin) before surgery and concurrent radiotherapy (45 Gy, 25 times, 1.8 Gy/d, 5 times/week). Clinical efficacy of the nCRT group was evaluated by the solid tumor efficacy evaluation standard (RECIST1.1) and the tumor volume reduction rate was measured on CT. After completing the preoperative examination in the direct operation group, and 8-10 weeks after the end of nCRT in the nCRT group, surgery was performed. Laparoscopic exploration was initially performed. According to the Japanese "Regulations for the Treatment of Gastric Cancer", a transabdominal radical total gastrectomy combined with perigastric lymph node dissection was performed. The primary outcome was the 3-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival rate (DFS); the secondary outcomes were R0 resection rate, the toxicity of chemotherapy, and surgical complications. The follow-up ended on December 31, 2019. The postoperative recurrence, metastasis and survival time of the two groups were collected. Results: After excluding patients with incomplete clinical data, patients or family members requesting to withdraw informed consent, and those failing to follow the treatment plan, 63 cases in the nCRT group and 69 cases in the direct operation group were finally enrolled in the study. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics of the two groups (all P>0.05). Sixty-three patients in the nCRT group were evaluated by RECIST1.1 after treatment, the image based effective rate was 42.9% (27/63), and the stable disease rate was 98.4% (62/63); the tumor volume before and after nCRT measured on CT was (58.8±24.4) cm(3) and (46.6±25.7) cm(3), respectively, the effective rate of tumor volume reduction measured by CT was 47.6% (30/63). Incidences of neutrophilopenia [65.1% (41/63) vs. 40.6% (28/69), χ(2)=7.923, P=0.005], nausea [81.0% (51/63) vs. 56.5% (39/69), χ(2)=9.060, P=0.003] and fatigue [74.6% (47/63) vs. 42.0% (29/69), χ(2)=14.306, P=0.001] in the nCRT group were significantly higher than those in the direct surgery group. Radiation gastritis/esophagitis and radiation pneumonia were unique adverse reactions in the nCRT group, with incidences of 52.4% (33/63) and 15.9%(10/63), respectively. The classification of tumor regression of 63 patients in nCRT group presented as 11 cases of grade 0 (17.5%), 20 cases of grade 1 (31.7%), 28 cases of grade 2 (44.4%), and 5 cases of grade 3 (7.9%). Eleven (17.5%) patients achieved pathologic complete response. Sixty-one (96.8%) patients in the nCRT group underwent R0 resection, which was higher than 87.0% (60/69) in the direct surgery group (χ(2)=4.199, P=0.040). The mean number of harvested lymph nodes in the specimens in the nCRT group and the direct operation group was 27.6±12.4 and 26.8±14.6, respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant (t=-0.015, P=0.976). The pathological lymph node metastasis rate and lymph node ratio in the two groups were 44.4% (28/63) vs. 76.8% (53/69), and 4.0% (70/1 739) vs. 21.9% (404/1 847), respectively with statistically significant differences (χ(2)=14.552, P<0.001, and χ(2)=248.736, P<0.001, respectively). During a median follow-up of 52 (27-77) months, the 3-year DFS rate in the nCRT group and the direct surgery group was 52.4% and 39.1% (P=0.049), and the 3-year OS rate was 63.4% and 52.2% (P=0.019), respectively. According to whether the tumor volume reduction rate measured by CT was ≥ 12.5%, 63 patients in the nCRT group were divided into the effective group (n=30) and the ineffective group (n=33). The 3-year DFS rate of these two subgracps was 56.6% and 45.5%, respectively without significant difference (P=0.098). The 3-year OS rate was 73.3% and 51.5%,respectively with significant difference (P=0.038). The 3-year DFS rate of patients with the tumor regression grades 0, 1, 2 and 3 was 81.8%, 70.0%, 44.4%, and 20.0%, repectively (P=0.024); the 3-year OS rate was 81.8%, 75.0%, 48.1% and 40.0%, repectively (P=0.048). Conclusion: nCRT improves treatment efficacy of Siewert type II and III AEG patients, and the long-term prognosis is good.
Adenocarcinoma/therapy* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Capecitabine/administration & dosage* ; Chemoradiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Esophagogastric Junction/surgery* ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Oxaliplatin/administration & dosage* ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/therapy*

Objective: To explore the safety and efficacy of oxaliplatin plus capecitabine (CapeOX) or oxaliplatin plus S-1 (SOX) regimen neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed. Clinical data of patients diagnosed as advanced gastric cancer undergoing CapeOX/SOX neoadjuvant chemotherapy and standard laparoscopic radical operation for gastric cancer in Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from April 2016 to April 2019 were retrospectively collected. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) age≥18 years; (2) gastric adenocarcinoma was confirmed by histopathology and the clinical stage was T3-4aN+M0; (3) tumor could be resectable; (4) preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy was CapeOX or SOX regimen without radiotherapy or other regimen chemotherapy; (5) no other concurrent malignant tumor; (6) the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score ≤ 1; (7) no bone marrow suppression; (8) normal liver and kidney function. Exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) patients with recurrent gastric cancer; (2) patients receiving emergency surgery due to tumor perforation, bleeding, obstruction, etc.; (3) allergy to oxaliplatin, S-1, capecitabine or any drug excipients; (4) diagnosed with coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy, or the New York Heart Association class III or IV; (5) pregnant or lactating women. A total of 118 patients were enrolled as the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group, and 379 patients with locally advanced gastric cancer who received surgery combined with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy over the same period simultaneously were included as the adjuvant chemotherapy group. After propensity score matching was performed including gender, age, ECOG score, tumor site, clinical stage, chemotherapy regimen and other factors by 1:1 ratio, there were 40 cases in each group. The differences between the two groups in general conditions, efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, intraoperative conditions, postoperative conditions, histopathological results, chemotherapy-related adverse events, and survival status were compared and analyzed. Results: Comparison of baseline demographics between the two groups showed no statistically significant difference (all P>0.05). In the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group, 5.0% (2/40) of patients achieved clinical complete response, 57.5% (23/40) achieved partial response, 32.5% (13/40) remained stable disease, and 5.0% (2/40) had disease progression before surgery. Objective response rate was 62.5% (25/40), and disease control rate was 95.0% (38/40). There were no statistically significant differences between neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and adjuvant chemotherapy group in terms of operation time, intraoperative blood loss, number of lymph node harvested, length of postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative mortality and morbidity (all P>0.05). Postoperative complications were well managed with conservative treatment. No Clavien-Dindo IV or V complications were observed in both groups. Pathological results showed that the proportion of patients with pathological stage T1 in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group was significantly higher than that in the adjuvant chemotherapy group [27.5% (11/40) vs. 5.0% (2/40)], while the proportion of patients with pathological stage T3 was significantly lower than that in the adjuvant chemotherapy group [20.0% (8/40) vs. 45.0% (18/40)], with statistically significant difference (χ(2)=15.432, P=0.001). In the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group, there were 4 cases of tumor regression grade 0, 8 cases of grade 1, 16 cases of grade 2, and 12 cases of grade 3. The pathological complete response rate was 10% (4/40), the overall pathological response rate was 70.0% (28/40). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of chemotherapy-related adverse events between neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and adjuvant chemotherapy group [40% (16/40) vs. 37.5% (15/40), P>0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in OS (43 months vs. 40 months) and 3-year OS rate (66.1% vs. 59.8%) between neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and adjuvant chemotherapy group (P=0.428). The disease-free survival (DFS) and 3-year DFS rates of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group were significantly superior to those of the adjuvant chemotherapy group (36 months vs. 28 months, 51.4% vs. 35.8%, P=0.048). Conclusion: CapeOX or SOX regimen neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a safe, effective and feasible treatment mode for advanced gastric cancer without increasing surgical risk and can improve the DFS of patients.
Adenocarcinoma/surgery* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Capecitabine/administration & dosage* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Drug Combinations ; Humans ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Oxaliplatin/administration & dosage* ; Oxonic Acid/administration & dosage* ; Radiotherapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/surgery* ; Tegafur/administration & dosage* ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: We investigated whether irinotecan plus capecitabine improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with capecitabine alone in patients with human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) negative and anthracycline and taxane pretreated metastatic breast cancer (MBC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 221 patients were randomly assigned to irinotecan (80 mg/m2, days 1 and 8) and capecitabine (1,000 mg/m2 twice a day, days 1-14) or capecitabine alone (1,250 mg/m2 twice a day, days 1-14) every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was PFS. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in PFS between the combination and monotherapy arm (median, 6.4 months vs. 4.7 months; hazard ratio [HR], 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63 to 1.11; p=0.84). In patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC, n=90), the combination significantly improved PFS (median, 4.7 months vs. 2.5 months; HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.91; p=0.02). Objective response rate was numerically higher in the combination arm, though it failed to reach statistical significance (44.4% vs. 33.3%, p=0.30). Overall survival did not differ between arms (median, 20.4 months vs. 24.0 months; p=0.63). While grade 3 or 4 neutropenia was more common in the combination arm (39.6% vs. 9.0%), hand-foot syndrome was more often observed in capecitabine arm. Quality of life measurements in global health status was similar. However, patients in the combination arm showed significantly worse symptom scales especially in nausea/vomiting and diarrhea. CONCLUSION: Irinotecan plus capecitabine did not prove clinically superior to single-agent capecitabine in anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated HER2 negative MBC patients. Toxicity profiles of the two groups differed but were manageable. The role of added irinotecan in patients with TNBC remains to be elucidated.
Arm ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Capecitabine* ; Diarrhea ; Disease-Free Survival ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Global Health ; Hand-Foot Syndrome ; Humans ; Neutropenia ; Quality of Life ; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: We conducted a randomized, multicenter, phase III trial to compare S-1 plus docetaxel (DS) with S-1 plus cisplatin (SP) as adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III gastric cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stage III gastric cancer patients who had received curative gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy were randomized into equal groups to receive adjuvant chemotherapy of eight cycles of DS (S-1 70 mg/m2/day on days 1-14 plus docetaxel 35 mg/m2on days 1 and 8) every 3 weeks or SP (S-1 70 mg/m2/day on days 1-14 plus cisplatin 60 mg/m2on day 1) every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate. RESULTS: Between November 2010 and July 2013, 153 patients (75 patients to DS and 78 patients to SP) were enrolled from 8 institutions in Korea. After the capecitabine plus oxaliplatin was approved based on the CLASSIC study, itwas decided to close the study early. With a median follow-up duration of 56.9 months, the 3-year DFS rate between two groups was not significantly different (49.14% in DS group vs. 52.5% in SP group). The most common grade 3-4 adverse event was neutropenia (42.7% in DS and 38.5% in SP, p=0.351). SP group had more grade 3-4 anemia (1.3% vs. 11.5%, p=0.037), whereas grade 3-4 hand-foot syndrome (4.1% vs. 0%, p=0.025) and mucositis (10.7% vs. 2.6%, p=0.001) were more common in DS group. Fifty-one patients (68%) in DS group and 52 (66.7%) in SP group finished planned treatment. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that SP or DS is an effective and tolerable option for patients with curatively resected stage III gastric cancer.
Anemia ; Capecitabine ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant* ; Cisplatin ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy ; Hand-Foot Syndrome ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymph Node Excision ; Mucositis ; Neutropenia ; Stomach Neoplasms*

PURPOSE: Distant metastasis can occur early after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with rectal cancer. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients who developed early systemic failure. METHODS: The patients who underwent neoadjuvant CRT for a rectal adenocarcinoma between June 2007 and July 2015 were included in this study. Patients who developed distant metastasis within 6 months after CRT were identified. We compared short- and long-term clinicopathologic outcomes of patients in the early failure (EF) group with those of patients in the control group. RESULTS: Of 107 patients who underwent neoadjuvant CRT for rectal cancer, 7 developed early systemic failure. The lung was the most common metastatic site. In the EF group, preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen was higher (5 mg/mL vs. 2 mg/mL, P = 0.010), and capecitabine as a sensitizer of CRT was used more frequently (28.6% vs. 3%, P = 0.002). Of the 7 patients in the EF group, only 4 underwent a primary tumor resection (57.1%), in contrast to the 100% resection rate in the control group (P < 0.001). In terms of pathologic outcomes, ypN and TNM stages were more advanced in the EF group (P < 0.001 and P = 0.047, respectively), and numbers of positive and retrieved lymph nodes were much higher (P < 0.001 and P = 0.027, respectively). CONCLUSION: Although early distant metastasis after CRT for rectal cancer is very rare, patients who developed early metastasis showed a poor nodal response with a low primary tumor resection rate and poor oncologic outcomes.
Adenocarcinoma ; Capecitabine ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Humans ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Rectal Neoplasms

PURPOSE: Identification of biomarkers to predict recurrence risk is essential to improve adjuvant treatment strategies in stage II/III gastric cancer patients. This study evaluated biomarkers for predicting survival after surgical resection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This post-hoc analysis evaluated patients from the CLASSIC trial who underwent D2 gastrectomywith orwithout adjuvant chemotherapy (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) at the Yonsei Cancer Center. Tumor expressions of thymidylate synthase (TS), excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1), and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) were evaluated by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining to determine their predictive values. RESULTS: Among 139 patients, IHC analysis revealed high tumor expression of TS (n=22, 15.8%), ERCC1 (n=23, 16.5%), and PD-L1 (n=42, 30.2%) in the subset of patients. Among all patients, high TS expression tended to predict poor disease-free survival (DFS; hazard ratio [HR], 1.80; p=0.053), whereas PD-L1 positivity was associated with favorable DFS (HR, 0.33; p=0.001) and overall survival (OS; HR, 0.38; p=0.009) in multivariate Cox analysis. In the subgroup analysis, poor DFS was independently predicted by high TS expression (HR, 2.51; p=0.022) in the adjuvant chemotherapy subgroup (n=66). High PD-L1 expression was associated with favorable DFS (HR, 0.25; p=0.011) and OS (HR, 0.22; p=0.015) only in the surgery-alone subgroup (n=73). The prognostic impact of high ERCC1 expression was not significant in the multivariate Cox analysis. CONCLUSION: This study shows that high TS expression is a predictive factor for worse outcomes on capecitabine plus oxaliplatin adjuvant chemotherapy, whereas PD-L1 expression is a favorable prognostic factor in locally advanced gastric cancer patients.
Biomarkers ; Capecitabine ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Disease-Free Survival ; DNA Repair ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Thymidylate Synthase