Preoperative docetaxel/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced gastro-esophageal adenocarcinoma

Perioperative chemotherapy plus surgery improves survival compared to surgery alone in GE junctional (GEJ) and gastric adenocarcinomas. The docetaxel/cisplatin/5-fluorouracil (DCF) combination is superior to CF in patients with metastatic gastric cancer. We retrospectively evaluated the safety and efficacy of preoperative DCF chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced gastric and GEJ cancer. Twenty-one gastric and 10 gastroesophageal junctional (GEJ) cancer patients received 2-3 cycles of preoperative docetaxel 75 mg/m ² and cisplatin 75 mg/m² on day 1, 5-FU 750 mg/m ² (continuous infusion) on days 1-5 every 3 weeks. Clinical response was evaluated by comparing pre- and postchemotherapy CT scans. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated from the initiation of chemotherapy. None of the patients achieved complete clinical remission while 11 (35%) patients achieved partial clinical remission. Ten patients with GEJ cancer (100%) and 13 with gastric cancer (62%) underwent curative surgery (P = 0.023). Seventeen (55%) patients experienced grade 3-4 chemotherapy-related adverse events. The most common adverse events were anemia, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and febrile neutropenia. At a median follow-up of 17.0 months, median OS and PFS were 26.1 months (95% CI: 22.7-29.5) and 18.8 months (95% CI: 9.9-27.7), respectively. The DCF regimen is active in patients with gastric and GEJ adenocarcinoma in the preoperative setting.