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Anemia is the strongest prognostic factor for outcomes of 5-fluorouracil-based first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer

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Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence of anemia and its impact of hemoglobin (Hgb) levels in predicting outcomes of 5-fluorouracil (FU)-based first-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Methods: We collected data retrospectively from 511 consecutive patients treated with FU-based first-line chemotherapy as a routine clinical practice for AGC and followed up in two centers from 1995 to 2003. FU was given in combination with cisplatin (61%), taxanes (12%), anthracyclines (24%) and/or folinic acid (50%). Results: Hgb values were <10 g/dl in 41%, and patients with baseline Hgb levels <10 g/dl had significantly lower response rates (9%) than patients with Hgb≥10 g/dl (53%; P<0.001). In addition, Hgb<10 g/dl served as a predictor for disease progression (RR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.42–2.21) and death (RR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.48–2.32) along with chemotherapy response and performance status. Conclusion: Low baseline Hgb level is a strong and independent prognostic factor for the outcomes of AGC patients receiving FU-based first-line chemotherapy. This results strongly suggest that Hgb level, along with performance status, may be considered as a stratification variable in subsequent studies of AGC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon Medical School Gil Medical Center, Incheon, 405-760, Korea

    Se Hoon Park, Soo Mee Bang, Eun Kyung Cho, Dong Bok Shin & Jae Hoon Lee

  2. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea

    Jeeyun Lee, Se Hoon Lee, Joon Oh Park, Kihyun Kim, Won Seog Kim, Chul Won Jung, Young Suk Park, Won Ki Kang & Keunchil Park

  3. Center for Biostatistics, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea

    Seonwoo Kim

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  1. Se Hoon Park
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Correspondence to Dong Bok Shin.

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Park, S.H., Lee, J., Lee, S.H. et al. Anemia is the strongest prognostic factor for outcomes of 5-fluorouracil-based first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 57, 91–96 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-005-0027-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-005-0027-2

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