Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and chemotherapy or by surgery and chemoradiotherapy for patients with resectable gastric cancer (CRITICS)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Radical surgery is the cornerstone in the treatment of resectable gastric cancer. The Intergroup 0116 and MAGIC trials have shown benefit of postoperative chemoradiation and perioperative chemotherapy, respectively. Since these trials cannot be compared directly, both regimens are evaluated prospectively in the CRITICS trial. This study aims to obtain an improved overall survival for patients treated with preoperative chemotherapy and surgery by incorporating radiotherapy concurrently with chemotherapy postoperatively.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>In this phase III multicentre study, patients with resectable gastric cancer are treated with three cycles of preoperative ECC (epirubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine), followed by surgery with adequate lymph node dissection, and then either another three cycles of ECC or concurrent chemoradiation (45 Gy, cisplatin and capecitabine). Surgical, pathological, and radiotherapeutic quality control is performed. The primary endpoint is overall survival, secondary endpoints are disease-free survival (DFS), toxicity, health-related quality of life (HRQL), prediction of response, and recurrence risk assessed by genomic and expression profiling. Accrual for the CRITICS trial is from the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark, and more countries are invited to participate.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results of this study will demonstrate whether the combination of preoperative chemotherapy and postoperative chemoradiotherapy will improve the clinical outcome of the current European standard of perioperative chemotherapy, and will therefore play a key role in the future management of patients with resectable gastric cancer.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00407186">NCT00407186</a></p

Chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine for locally advanced anal carcinoma : an alternative treatment option

BACKGROUND: Capecitabine is an established treatment alternative to intravenous 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for patients with rectal cancer receiving chemoradiotherapy. Its place in the treatment of locally advanced anal carcinoma (AC), however, remains undetermined. We investigated whether capecitabine is as effective as 5-FU in the treatment of patients with locally advanced AC. METHODS: One hundred and five patients with squamous cell AC stage T2-4 (T2>4 cm), N0-1, M0 or T1-4, N2-3, M0, were included in this retrospective study. Forty-seven patients were treated with continuous 5-FU (750 mg m(-2)) on days 1-5 and 29-33, mitomycin C (MMC, 10 mg m(-2)) on day 1, and radiotherapy; 58 patients were treated with capecitabine (825 mg m(-2) b.i.d. on weekdays), MMC (10 mg m(-2)) on day 1, and radiotherapy. The primary end points of the study were: clinical complete response rate, locoregional control (LRC) and overall survival (OS). Secondary end points were: colostomy-free survival (CFS), toxicity and associations of genetic polymorphisms (GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1 and TYMS) with outcome and toxicity. RESULTS: Clinical complete response was achieved in 41/46 patients (89.1%) with 5-FU and in 52/58 patients (89.7%) with capecitabine. Three-year LRC was 76% and 79% (P=0.690, log-rank test), 3-year OS was 78% and 86% (P=0.364, log-rank test) and CFS was 65% and 79% (P=0.115, log-rank test) for 5-FU and capecitabine, respectively. GSTT1 and TYMS genotypes were associated with severe (grade 3-4) toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Capecitabine combined with MMC and radiotherapy was equally effective as 5-FU-based chemoradiotherapy. This study shows that capecitabine can be used as an acceptable alternative to 5-FU for the treatment of AC