Phase II trial of bortezomib alone or in combination with irinotecan in patients with adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction or stomach

Purpose To determine the effectiveness of bortezomib plus irinotecan and bortezomib alone in patients with advanced gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) and gastric adenocarcinoma. We also sought to explore the effect of these therapeutics on tumor and normal gene expression in vivo. Methods Forty-one patients with advanced GEJ (89 %) or gastric (11 %) adenocarcinoma received bortezomib (1.3 mg/m² days 1, 4, 8, 11) plus irinotecan (125 mg/m² days 1, 8) every 21 days as first line therapy (N = 29), or bortezomib alone as second line therapy (N = 12). The trial was designed to detect a 40 % response rate for the combination, and 20 % response rate for bortezomib alone. Affymetrix HU133A gene chip arrays were used for gene expression studies. Results Objective response occurred in 3 of 29 patients (10 %, 95 % confidence intervals [CI] 2 %, 27 %) treated with bortezomib plus irinotecan, and in 1 of 12 patients (8 %, 95 % CI 0 %, 39 %) with bortezomib alone. Due to the limited number of responders, there were no significant correlations with response found in the gene expression profiles of 12 patients whose tumors were sampled before and 24 h after therapy with bortezomib alone (N = 2) or the combination (N = 10). Conclusions We conclude that bortezomib is not effective for the treatment of advanced adenocarcinoma of the GEJ or stomach, whether used alone or in combination with irinotecan, in an unselected patient population.