ABSTRACT
Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of continuous dosing or alternate-day dosing of apatinib combined with SOX regimen as first-line treatment for patients with advanced gastric cancer.Methods:A total of 52 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative and inoperable locally advanced or advanced gastric cancer who were pathologically diagnosed from January 2018 to January 2021 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University were collected. The patients were divided into continuous dosing group and alternate-day dosing group by random number table method. The continuous dosing group received apatinib (250 mg, once a day) combined with SOX regimen (S-1+oxaliplatin); the alternate-day dosing group received apatinib (250 mg, once every other day) combined with SOX regimen. Twenty-one days were a cycle, and the efficacy was evaluated after 2 cycles. After 4-6 cycles, patients with stable disease received apatinib and S-1 for maintenance therapy. The therapeutic effects and adverse reactions of the two groups were compared.Results:The curative effect could be evaluated in 51 patients, including 26 in the continuous dosing group and 25 in the alternate-day dosing group. The disease control rates in the continuous dosing group and the alternate-day dosing group were 84.6% (22/26) and 76.0% (19/25) ( χ2 = 0.60, P = 0.499), and the median progression-free survival time was 7.50 months (95% CI 6.17-8.83 months) and 8.30 months (95% CI 6.99-9.61 months) ( χ2 = 0.71, P = 0.401), and the median overall survival time was 15.50 months (95% CI 11.30-19.69 months) and 15.60 months (95% CI 13.63-17.57 months) ( χ2 = 1.82, P = 0.177). The main adverse reactions in the two groups were leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, hypertension, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, hand-foot syndrome, proteinuria, liver and kidney damage. The incidence rates of ≥grade 3 adverse reactions in the continuous dosing group and the alternate-day dosing group were 42.3% (11/26) and 12.0% (3/25), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.46, P = 0.035). Conclusions:The efficacy of continuous dosing or alternate-day dosing of apatinib combined with SOX regimen as first-line treatment for advanced gastric cancer is similar, but the incidence of ≥grade 3 adverse reactions in alternate-day dosing group is lower, which improves the compliance and tolerance of patients.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of vitamin D (VD) on gastric cancer and its underlying mechanisms by detecting serum VD levels in gastric cancer patients and the expression of vitamin D receptor (VDR) in gastric tumor.Methods Serum VD levels was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay,VRD expression of tumor tissue and normal mucosa were detected by immunohistochemistry.At the same time,relationships of VDR expression and the prognosis of the patients were analyzed.Results The serum levels of VD of gastric cancer patients were lower than that of healthy people (P＜0.05),and they were negatively related to the degree of cell differentiation significantly (P＜0.001).VDR expression in gastric tumor tissue significantly decreased compared to that of the normal mucosa (P＜0.05).A significant correlation was found between the VDR expression and the differentiation grade of the carcinoma,with well differentiated carcinoma having the highest level of VDR expression (P＜0.05).For patients with gastric cancer,those with positive VDR expression had significant longer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) than the patients with negative VDR expression (P＜0.05).Conclusions VD may be a protecting factor of gastric cancer.VDR can be regarded as a marker of differentiation of gastric cancer and served as an effective prognostic factor in patients with postoperative gastric cancer.