July 27, 2018 – Optimal Perioperative Chemotherapy in Gastric/GEJ Cancer

Traditionally, preoperative chemotherapy without radiation is used following the standard Britsh regimen which combines epirubicin platinum and 5-FU (both drugs used for chemotherapy). However, recently the Germans developed the FLOT regimen which essentially is a modified FOLFOX with an addition of docetaxel. Following this development, they decided to compare their new regimen FLOT versus the old regimen ECF or ECX, with a primary focus on overall survival in over 700 patients with gastroesophageal junction and gastric cancers. The comparison was necessary to determine whether the new regimen could potentially replace the old as the standard regimen for preoperative chemotherapy without radiation. Moreover, the results from this comparison suggested that the overall survival of the participants was significantly improved from 18 to 30 months with FLOT. Ultimately in a patient who can tolerate 3-drug therapy, the FLOT regimen has become a new standard and for distal gastric patients, as Dr.David Ilson states, this should become the new standard of care as well given how successful it has been in the trials. Some adjustments must be made on the doses prescribed to each patient to avoid high levels of toxicity however, this should not compromise the efficacy of the regimen.
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