ASO Author Reflections: Induction Systemic Chemotherapy for Peritoneal Metastasis of Gastric Cancer

Excerpt

Gastric cancer is often diagnosed with peritoneal metastasis, and, in some cases, peritoneal metastasis is the only non-curable factor. Systemic chemotherapy is the standard treatment for such patients because upfront reduction surgery is not recommended based on the randomized controlled trial by Fujitani et al.1 Some selected patients receive intraperitoneal chemotherapy with or without hyperthermia. High response rates of peritoneal disease to intraperitoneal chemotherapy were reported, but the survival advantage was not proven.2 On the other hand, little is known about the efficacy of systemic chemotherapy for peritoneal metastasis because it has not been well evaluated. We previously reported the high complete response rate of peritoneal disease to S-1 plus cisplatin therapy in a retrospective study.3 …