Background: The REGARD and RAINBOW trials showed that ramucirumab(RAM)alone and RAM plus paclitaxel(PTX) were effective therapies for advanced gastric cancer patients previously treated with chemotherapy. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of RAM alone and PTX plus RAM in such patients.
Methods: Patients who were received RAM at 8mg/kg or RAM plus PTX at 80mg/m2(on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle)between June 2015 and March 2016 were enrolled in this study. We compared the clinical outcome of RAM alone(RAM group, n=10)with that of RAM plus PTX(PTX+RAM group, n=13).
Results: The RAM group contained many more patients with poor performance status or prior chemotherapy of 2 or more regimens than the PTX+RAM group. All patients in both groups received chemotherapy on an outpatient basis. One case of grade 3 or 4 hematological adverse events was found in the RAM group and 6 cases were found in the PTX+RAM group. The overall response rate was 10% in the RAM group and 30% in the PTX+RAM group. Progression-free survival was 54 days in the RAM group and 187 days in the PTX+RAM group(p=0.0374). Overall survival was 158 days in the RAM group and was not reached in the PTX+RAM group(p=0.1091).
Conclusions: RAM alone and RAM plus PTX can be administered safely on an outpatient basis and are beneficial for advanced gastric cancer patients previously treated with chemotherapy.