Introduction & Objective: In a prospective multicentric phase II trial, we evaluated the efficacy and
toxicity of combination of docetaxel, cisplatin and 5fu/lv (DCF) in a group of untreated patients with
unresectable advanced and metastatic Gastric Cancer.
Materials & Methods: Fifty six patients with locally advanced and metastatic Gastric cancer were
enrolled in this study. Docetaxel, 75mg/m2 in day 1, Cisplatin 75mg/m2 in day 1, 5-fu 750mg/m2/ for day 1 –
3 with continuous infusion with folinic acid support were administered. The above regimen were given every
3 weeks for total of 6 cycles. The primary end points were time to progression (TTP) and overall survival
(OS).
Results: In 56 assigned patients (Male = 36, Female = 20) with median age of 56 year, 40% had already
undergone unsuccessful laparatomy, a total of 274 cycles of above regimen were given. The average of
received cycles were 5 cycles. In a 16 months of follow up 75% of patients showed progression, in evaluation
after 19 months 65% of patients died and overall survival was 10 months. Until this report 19 out of 56 (35%)
were alive for more than a year. Time to progression with DCF was almost two times compared to prior
chemotherapy regimen. The most important toxicity of this regimen were neutropenic fever in 12% of
patients, gastrointestinal toxicity and neuropathy.
Conclusions: Adding Docetaxel to CF significantly improved RR, TTP, and OS. The above results have
associated with brief increase in toxicity, the overall quality of life was better, therefore, DCF regimen could
be one of the standard options for patients with untreated advanced gastric cancers.