Korean J Med.  2012 Apr;82(4):417-426.

Recent Advances in Chemotherapy of Gastric Cancer

• Park SH
• Lee SI

Abstract

Surgery is the best and the only treatment modality for cure if a patient has resectable gastric cancer. The outcome can be improved by a strategy of perioperative (neoadjuvant or adjuvant) chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Whereas, advanced gastric cancer is treated primarily with chemotherapy; however, no chemotherapy regimen has been considered a standard. First-line chemotherapy generally includes fluoropyrimidine and cisplatin, sometimes with the addition of a third drug (epirubicin or docetaxel). In second-line setting, chemotherapy with single-agent irinotecan or docetaxel has emerged as a new standard of care. With improved understanding of the biology of gastric cancer and the identification of key signaling pathways, a number of promising molecularly-targeted agents have been studied that broaden the therapeutic options in the future. Regardless of the extent of disease or treatment modality, a multidisciplinary team approach is always desired since it can provide best treatment options for the patients.

Keyword

Stomach neoplasm; Chemotherapy

MeSH Terms

Biology
Camptothecin
Chemoradiotherapy
Cisplatin
Humans
Standard of Care
Stomach Neoplasms
Taxoids
Camptothecin
Cisplatin
Taxoids