A Case of Advanced Gastric Cancer with Poor Performance Status Which Improved by Chemotherapy

Introduction: The prognosis of advanced gastric cancer patients, especially those with poor performance status (PS), is generally dismally poor. Patients with PS 3–4 are usually ineligible for participation in clinical studies and are managed with only best supportive care. Case Report: A 63-year-old male with advanced gastric cancer was admitted to our hospital. His PS was markedly impaired (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group PS 4), with dyspnea secondary to lymphangitis, pleuritis and pericarditis). He also had bilateral leg paralysis due to multiple bone metastases. He was treated with chemotherapy using 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin for 14 days with pericardial drainage followed by intrapericardial infusion of cisplatin. He was also treated with radiotherapy for bone metastasis. The patient required 5 l/min oxygen therapy at the start of chemotherapy, but his dyspnea was improved by day 14 and he no longer required supplemental oxygen therapy. His leg paralysis also improved with the radiation therapy. His PS was significantly improved with this multimodal treatment modality, and he was ultimately discharged with chemotherapy with oral fluoropyrimidine. Conclusion: This case suggests that multimodal therapy including chemotherapy may be beneficial in advanced gastric cancer patients even in the setting of poor PS. Further study might be required to confirm the benefit of chemotherapy in this patient population

Cetuximab plus FOLFOX for Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer with Poor Performance Status and/or Severe Tumor-Related Complications

Introduction: Cetuximab-based chemotherapy showed a statistically significantly higher response rate compared with chemotherapy such as FOLFOX. Therefore, FOLFOX plus cetuximab is suspected to be the best regimen to alleviate tumor-related symptoms with a high response rate. Case Report: Here we present the results of 8 consecutive patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with poor performance status and/or severe complications who were treated with first-line FOLFOX with cetuximab. Six of 8 patients achieved an apparent clinical benefit, including radiological response and symptoms improvement. Two patients with BRAF mutation could achieve neither clinical benefit nor radiological response. Conclusion: Although an optimal line of therapy with cetuximab is unclear yet with bevacizumab in mind, we propose that patients who need a tumor response to alleviate their symptoms due to advanced disease might be candidates for first-line cetuximab-based therapy as shown in our cases. Additionally, patients with BRAF mutant tumors might be important candidates for novel targeted therapy in the future to improve their poor prognosis

Serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen is a predictive factor of outcomes in patients with locally advanced unresectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated by definitive chemoradiotherapy

Aim: Definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) is the standard treatment for locally advanced unresectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LU-ESCC). This study aimed to describe the results of dCRT for T4 ESCC and evaluate the pretherapeutic predictive factors of the outcomes.Methods: A total of 133 patients with T4 ESCC who received dCRT were grouped into those who achieved a complete response (CR) or those who had residual disease (RD). The clinicopathologic variables were compared between the groups and the overall survival (OS) was evaluated. The predictive factor of RD was assessed and the prognostic factor for OS was identified.Results: Among the 133 patients, 31 (23%) achieved CR. The CR group had a significantly better OS than the RD group (89.9 months vs. 10.7 months; hazard ratio = 0.096; 95% confidence interval: 0.05-0.19; P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that a supracarinal tumor (OR = 3.21; P = 0.016), higher pretherapeutic serum SCC-Ag level (> 1.6 ng/mL) (OR = 2.86; P = 0.018), and metastatic node invasion (OR = 3.19; P = 0.048) were independent predictors of RD. The increased level of pretherapeutic serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (> 1.6 ng/mL) (OR = 1.61; P = 0.022) was an independent predictor of poor survival.Conclusions: Among the patients who underwent dCRT for LU-ESCC, 23% achieved CR, and the long-term outcome of these patients was favorable. Increased levels of pretherapeutic serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen were also found to be predictive of treatment failure