Abstract
With an ever-increasing aged population in our society, the number of elderly patients with gastric cancer has not surprisingly been increasing. We conducted this study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TS-1-based chemotherapy in elderly patients, i.e. those over 75 years of age, for whom little evidence had previously been collected. Between November 2002 and Novem-ber 2005, 11 elderly patients who received TS-1-based chemotherapy as the first-line treatment were divided into two groups : (1) TS-1 therapy group [One course consisting of consecutive administration for 4 weeks and 2 weeks rest.] and (2) the combined TS-1 + CDDP therapy group [One course consisting of consecutive administration for 3 weeks and 2 weeks rest, in combination with CDDP, 60 mg/m2, on Day 8 of each course.] For each group, TS-1 was given orally, twice daily after meals, and the dose of TS-1 was determined on the basis of estimated creatinine clearance. The response rate was 45.5%. Adverse events with severity of grade 3 or higher were seen in only one case (anorexia) . The median survival time (MST) was 244 days. The MST for the group with a performance status of 0-1 (P50-1; 323 days) was significantly longer than that for the PS2-3 group (131 days) . TS-1-based chemotherapy for elderly patients with gastric cancer who have a good performance status has an efficacy comparable to that previously seen in adult patients.
