Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The first-line treatment for GC is a combination of platinum and fluoropyrimidine-based therapy. Based on the positive results of RAINBOW and REGARD trials, ramucirumab either alone or in combination with paclitaxel has proved to be a safe and active option for second-line treatment in GC patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Advanced GC patients who received a 28-day cycles of ramucirumab and paclitaxel until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity were evaluated. Eligible patients had ECOG PS ≤ 1 and adequate organ function. Baseline characteristics were assessed for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used for survival analyses. RESULTS: In our single institution experience, we included a total of 67 patients. A median OS of 8 months and a median PFS of 4 months, were recorded. In patients experiencing an initial partial response (PR), we observed a significant association between tumor response and survival outcomes (OS and PFS). The OS and PFS were 15 and 11 months in patients who experienced PR compared to 8 and 4 months in patients without PR (p = 0.02; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Treatment with ramucirumab plus paclitaxel yielded the highest overall response rate reported to date for patients with previously treated advanced GC. In our experience, the initial tumor response is associated with a greater survival benefit which could be further improved by the identification of biomarkers predicting response.