Adjuvant chemoradiation versus chemotherapy in completely resected advanced gastric cancer with D2 nodal dissection

AIM: Adjuvant chemoradiation has become a standard of care in the USA. We evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of adjuvant chemoradiation versus chemotherapy in completely resected locally advanced gastric cancer. METHODS: Patients with stage IIIA, IIIB and IV (without metastasis) gastric cancer were treated with chemoradiation and 5-fluorouracil/cisplatin (FP) (arm A) or FP (arm B). Arm A consisted of one cycle of FP followed by 4500 cGY to radiation field with capecitabine. One month after completion of radiotherapy, patients received three additional cycles of FP every 3 weeks. Arm B consisted of six cycles of FP. RESULTS: A total of 61 patients were enrolled, of whom 31 were placed in arm A and 30 in arm B. The median follow-up duration was 77.2 months (range 24-92.8 months). We did not find any difference in 3-year disease-free survival between arm A and B (80.0 vs 75.2%, respectively; P = 0.887). There was no significant difference between the arms in 5-year disease-free survival (76.7 vs 59.1%, respectively; P = 0.222) or overall survival (70.1 vs 70.0%, respectively; P = 0.814). Seven patients (22.6%) relapsed in arm A and 12 patients (40%) relapsed in arm B. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in 48.5% of patients in arm A and 22.9% in arm B. Grade 3 nausea or vomiting occurred in 6% in arm A and 14.6% in arm B. CONCLUSION: We could not make any conclusion about the benefit of adding radiation to adjuvant chemotherapy.