Evaluation and treatment of malignant ascites secondary to gastric cancer

Table 3 Systemic chemotherapy for patients with malignant ascites due to gastric cancer

Ref.	Regimen	No. patients	ECOG-PS 0/1/2	Ascites volume	Prior chemotherapy	Main findings	Grade 3 or more AE
Imamoto et al[1]	Paclitaxel1	64	24/28/12	Mean: 2906 mL (range: 122-7623 mL)	37	Positive CRB-GC: 39.1%	Neutropenia: 19.1%
						MST 5.2 mo	Hyponatremia: 19.1%
						Positive CRB-GC: 9.9 mo	Anorexia: 22.2%
						Non-response: 3.6 mo
Hironaka et al[51]	Paclitaxel1	38 (21)	12/15/11	ND	38	Ascites volume reduction: 5/21	Neutropenia: 32%
							Leukopenia: 29%
							Death within 30 d of the last administration
Takeyoshi et al[58]	Paclitaxel	24	8/4/2012	ND	14	MST: 7.2 mo	Leukopenia: 25%
	Doxifluridine2					1-yr OS: 29.2 and	Elevated alt: 12.5%
						RR: 41.7%
Iwasa et al[59]	Paclitaxel	25	1/19/5	Non: 1	7	Ascites volume reduction: 44%	Neutropenia: 12%
	Fluorouracil			Mild: 6		MST: 8.0 mo	Anemia: 12%
	Leucovorin3			Moderate: 2			Hyponatremia: 16%
				Masive: 16			Anorexia: 16%
Oh et al[60]	mFOLFOX-44	48	0-1/2: 26/22	ND	27	MST: 8.4 mo	Neutropenia 18.8% (per cycle)
						Ascites volume reduction: 35.4%	Nausea: 6.3%
							Febrile neutropenia: 2.6% (per cycle)
Yamao et al[38]	Methotrexate	37	8/24/5	ND	0	Ascites volume reduction: 35.1%	Neutropenia: 27%
	Fluorouracil5						Elevated total bilirubin: 24.3%
							Anemia: 24.3%
Nakayama et al[62]	Methotrexate	47 (23)	10/13/24	ND	8/47	Ascites volume reduction: 15/23	Leukopenia: 21.3%
	Fluorouracil					MST 211 d	Neutropenia: 19.1%
	Cisplatin6						Nausea: 2.1%
							Anorexia: 2.1%

¹Eighty mg/m² of paclitaxel intravenously on day 1, 8, 15, every 4 wk;

²80 mg/m² of paclitaxel intravenously on day 1, 8, 15, every 4 wk and doxifluridine 533 mg/m² at day 1-5, every week;

³500 mg/m² of fluorouracil, 250 mg/m² of leucovorin, and 60 mg/m² of paclitaxel intravenously on day 1, 8, 15, every 4 wk;

⁴85 mg/m² of oxaliplatin on day 1, 20 mg/m of leucovorin, 400 mg/m² of fluorouracil on day 1 and 2, followed by 600 mg/m² of fluorouracil over 22 h, every 2 wk;

⁵100 mg/m² of methotrexate and 600 mg/m² of fluorouracil intravenously, every week;

⁶30 mg/m² of methotrexate, 600 mg/m² of fluorouracil on day 1 and 8, 6 mg/m² cisplatin on days 1-14, every 4 wk. AE: Adverse event; ND: Not described; ECOG-PS: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status.