To evaluate the therapeutic activity and safety of paclitaxel and cisplatin combination chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancers that are unresponsive to primary chemotherapy.

Advanced or metastatic gastric cancer patients unresponsive to first line chemotherapy were entered into this trial. The treatment regimen consisted of paclitaxel, 175 mg/m² by 3-hour infusion on day 1, and cisplatin, 60 mg/m² by 1 hour infusion on day 1, with the treatment repeated every 3 weeks.

37 patients were entered in this study, with 32 fully evaluable for response. 4 (13%), 13 (40%) and 15 (47%) patients achieved a partial response, stable disease and progressed, respectively. The median time to progression was 4.0 months (95% CI: 2.0~6.0 months), and the median overall survival was 12.6 months (95% CI: 5.5~19.7 months), with a 1-year survival rate of 54%. Of a total of 135 cycles of chemotherapy, grades 3 and 4 hematological toxicities were neutropenia (14%) and anemia (3%). Grade ≥2 neuropathy was observed in 6 patients (17%).

The combination of paclitaxel and cisplatin is an effective and tolerable salvage treatment modality for advanced gastric cancer.