[Late phase II clinical study of RP56976 (docetaxel) in patients with advanced/recurrent gastric cancer: a Japanese Cooperative Study Group trial (group A)].

A late phase II clinical study of RP56976 (docetaxel) was conducted in patients with advanced/recurrent gastric cancer as a multicenter cooperative trial. Docetaxel was administered intravenously at a dose of 60 mg/m2 every 3-4 weeks. Of the 76 patients enrolled, 66 patients were eligible and 59 patients were evaluable for response. One patient showed complete response (CR), 13 patients partial response (PR), 1 patient minor response (MR), 19 patients no change (NC) and 25 patients had progressive disease (PD). The overall response rate in 59 evaluable patients was 23.7% (95% CI = 13.6-36.6%). The primary tumor showed a 4.3% (1/23) response, while the metastatic lesions in the abdomen, pelvic mass, lung, liver, and lymph nodes showed response rates of 62.5% (5/8), 33.3% (1/3), 33.3% (1/3), 14.8% (4/27), and 13.9% (5/26), respectively. About hematological toxicity, severe (Grade 3 or more) leukopenia was observed in 36 patients (56.3%) and neutropenia in 52 patients (81.3%). Other major toxicity (Grade 3 or more) included nausea/vomiting in 11 patients (17.2%), anorexia in 9 patients (14.1%), fatigue in 5 patients (7.8%), and alopecia in 7 patients (10.9%), all which were tolerable. The results show that docetaxel is an effective anticancer agent for advanced/recurrent gastric cancer.