Furthermore , this therapy could increase the dem and on radiation re sources .
There is no evidence on which to make a recommendation for patients with node-negative tumours that have not penetrated the muscularis propria .
For patients unable to undergo radiation , adjuvant chemotherapy alone may be of benefit , particularly for those with lymph-node metastases .
There is insufficient evidence from r and omized trials to recommend neoadjuvant chemotherapy , or neoadjuvant or adjuvant radiotherapy or immunotherapy , either alone or in combination , outside a clinical trial .
OBJECTIVE To make recommendations on the use of neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy in addition to surgery in patients with resectable gastric cancer ( T1 - 4 , N1 - 2 , M0 ) .
OPTIONS Neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments compared with " curative " surgery alone .
OUTCOMES Overall survival , disease-free survival , and adverse effects .
The radiation fields used can possibly damage the left kidney , result ing in hypertension and other renal problems .
Chemotherapy for operable gastric cancer: results of the Dutch randomised FAMTX trial. The Dutch Gastric Cancer Group (DGCG).
The aim of this trial was to investigate whether pre-operative chemotherapy leads to a 15 % higher curative resectability rate in patients with operable gastric cancer . In this r and omised trial , patients were allocated to receive either four courses of chemotherapy using 5-fluorouracil , doxorubicin and methotrexate ( FAMTX ) prior to surgery or to undergo surgery only .  Patients younger than 75 years of age with a good physical and mental condition and a histologically proven adenocarcinoma of the stomach without clinical or radiographic ( computed tomography scan ) evidence of distant metastases were eligible for this trial . Early gastric cancer or cardia carcinoma were excluded . The response to chemotherapy was evaluated after two and four courses . In case of progressive disease ( PD ) after two courses , patients were operated upon as soon as possible . Otherwise complete response ( CR ) partial response ( PR ) or stable disease ( SD ) , two more courses were scheduled . The st and ard surgical procedure was a limited lymphadenectomy ( D1 ) with staging biopsy of the para-aortic lymph nodes . Between September 1993 and February 1996 , 56 eligible and evaluable patients were entered : 27 were r and omised to receive FAMTX before surgery and 29 to undergo surgery only . In the FAMTX + surgery treatment group , 15/27 ( 56 % ) had curative resections versus 18/29 ( 62 % ) in the surgery only arm . There was no difference in the frequency of TNM stages I + II in both treatment arms : 15/27 versus 15/29 . Due to PD and /or toxicity , 12 patients ( 44 % ) could not complete the planned four courses of FAMTX . Response evaluation after chemotherapy was possible in 25 patients : 2 CR , 6 PR , 8 SD and 9 PD . The difference in curative resectability rate was 6.5 % ( 95 % confidence interval -32 to + 19 % ) in favour of surgery only . Downstaging for stages I + II did not occur . PD was more often the reason for not completing the planned four courses than toxicity . More active regimens than FAMTX are required for future r and omised trials
Furthermore , this therapy could increase the dem and on radiation re sources .
There is no evidence on which to make a recommendation for patients with node-negative tumours that have not penetrated the muscularis propria .
For patients unable to undergo radiation , adjuvant chemotherapy alone may be of benefit , particularly for those with lymph-node metastases .
There is insufficient evidence from r and omized trials to recommend neoadjuvant chemotherapy , or neoadjuvant or adjuvant radiotherapy or immunotherapy , either alone or in combination , outside a clinical trial .
OBJECTIVE To make recommendations on the use of neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy in addition to surgery in patients with resectable gastric cancer ( T1 - 4 , N1 - 2 , M0 ) .
OPTIONS Neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments compared with " curative " surgery alone .
OUTCOMES Overall survival , disease-free survival , and adverse effects .
The radiation fields used can possibly damage the left kidney , result ing in hypertension and other renal problems .