Short-term survival and safety of apatinib combined with oxaliplatin and S-1 in the conversion therapy of unresectable gastric cancer

Background We conducted a single-arm phase II trial to investigate the short-term efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with oxaliplatin and S-1 in the treatment of unresectable gastric cancer. Patients and methods Previously untreated patients with unresectable HER-2-negative advanced gastric cancer were selected. All the patients received six cycles of S-1 and oxaliplatin and five cycles of apatinib, which were administered at intervals of three weeks. The surgery was performed after six cycles of drug treatment. The primary endpoints were radical resection (R0) rate and safety. This study was registered with the China Trial Register, number ChiCTR-ONC-17010430 (01/12/2016–01/12/2022). Results A total of 39 patients were enrolled. Efficacy evaluation was feasible for 37 patients. One patient achieved complete response (CR, 2.7%), 26 patients achieved partial response (PR, 70.3%), three patients had stable disease (SD, 8.1%) and seven patients had progressive disease (PD, 18.9%). The objective response rate (ORR) was 73.0% and the disease control rate (DCR) was 81.1%. 22 patients underwent surgery, among which 14 patients underwent radical resection (R0), with a R0 resection rate of 63.6%. The 1-year survival rate of the surgical group (22 patients) was 71.1% and the 2-year survival rate was 41.1%. The median survival time was 21 months. The incidence of adverse events (AEs) was 100%. Leucopenia (65.3%) and granulocytopenia (69.2%) were the most common hematological AEs. The most common non-hematological AEs were fatigue (51.3%) and oral mucositis (35.9%). Conclusion Apatinib combined with oxaliplatin and S-1 showed good short-term survival and acceptable safety in the conversion therapy of unresectable gastric cancer.