Efficacy of Conversion Surgery Following S-1 Plus Cisplatin or Oxaliplatin Chemotherapy for Unresectable Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM:To evaluate the efficacy of conversion surgery following S-1 plus cisplatin (CS) or oxaliplatin (SOX) chemotherapy.PATIENTS AND METHODS:We retrospectively analyzed clinicopathological and survival data of 74 patients with unresectable gastric cancer receiving CS or SOX.RESULTS:Fifty-five and nineteen patients received CS and SOX, respectively. Conversion surgery (odds ratio (OR), 0.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.04-0.64; p=0.01) was the only significant independent predictor of longer survival in multivariate Cox regression analysis. Patients (median age, 74 years) receiving SOX were significantly older than those receiving CS (median age=67 years) (p<0.01), although the rates of response, severe toxicity or conversion surgery did not differ significantly between the two treatment groups.CONCLUSION:Conversion surgery after a response to CS or SOX chemotherapy may have survival benefit in selected unresectable gastric cancer patients, for both non-elderly and elderly patients responding to SOX.