In this study, grade III-IV mucositis was not observed, but grade III-IV diarrhea occurred in 4 patients (9.8%). If UFT doses as high as 480 mg/m(2) had been used as a single agent, more cases with grade III-IV mucositis and diarrhea might have been observed (29). In a study by Kim

et al., grade III-IV mucositis was reported in 13% of patients selleck kinase inhibitor receiving a UFT dose of 360 mg/m2, while other studies reported mucositis in 6% of subjects receiving 300 mg/m2 UFT in ECU regimens. The incidence of diarrhea was also higher in the former study (10.8% vs <6%) (24)-(27). The incidence of grade III-IV neutropenia (11.9%) was lower in this study compared to other studies with epirubicin, cisplatin, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and UFT regimens (24)-(27),(29). A 1-week drug -free interval after 3 weeks of UFT administration, the exclusion of patients with PS 2, and no UFT doses above 300 mg/m2 may account for this low incidence (Table 4). Hand-foot syndrome, neurotoxicity, or cardiac problems were not observed in this study, which may be attributed to the uracil component of UFT, since it is known

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to prevent skin exfoliation and cardiac events (37)-(40). Thrombosis occurred in 2 patients (4.9%). Thrombosis is an important toxicity event Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical during the treatment of AGC; it occurs frequently at the initiation and during the course of chemotherapy, resulting in poor OS (41). Table 4 Previous studies with epirubicin, cisplatin, UFT regimens In addition Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to its acceptable toxicity profile and convenience of administration on an outpatient basis, the ECU regimen also appears to be promising in terms of efficacy. Overall median survival was 12.3 months compared to 8.2 months obtained

in a previous study with the ECF regimen (epirubicin, cisplatin, infusional 5-fluorouracil) (14). Conversely, overall response rates varied between 25% and 71% in studies using the ECF regimen for Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical AGC (14),(42), whereas they varied between 38% and 54% in studies with the ECU regimen (including this study) (24),(25). Therefore, the efficacy of ECU versus ECF needs Tryptophan synthase to be studied in larger controlled trials. One-year survival rates for Grade II and Grade III tumors were 68.4% and 27.3%, respectively (P=0.05). The proportion of patients with grade III tumors in this study is close to the general profile of Turkish patients with AGC (4). In future studies, the efficacy and safety of the ECU regimen should be studied in patients with different pathological grades. Another important factor affecting treatment outcome is the performance status of patients with AGC. It has a direct impact on survival, as shown in a meta-analysis by Yoshida in AGC (43). The relationship between performance status and survival can be seen in Table 4. Conclusion This study has shown the feasibility of the ECU chemotherapy regimen, with manageable toxicity in an outpatient setting for patients with AGC.