Late results of postoperative long-term cancer chemotherapy for the gastric cancer patients subjected to curative resection.

Postoperative long-term cancer chemotherapy (PLCC) with a combination of Mitomycin-C (MMC), FT-207 and PSK (an immuno-stimulant) was prescribed for gastric cancer patients subjected to curative resection. The 5 year survival rates for patients with stage III and stage IV cancer were 58.3 per cent and 50.0 per cent in the PLCC groups, 48.0 per cent and 15.4 per cent in MMC groups, and 46.3 per cent and 13.3 per cent in no chemotherapy groups, respectively. In stage IV, the survival rate in PLCC group was significantly higher than that in MMC or no chemotherapy group (p less than 0.05). In the PLCC group, there was a tendency toward a dose-dependent effect in each group, and 5 year survival rate of stage III group administered over 60 mg of MMC, 60 g of FT-207 and 270 g of PSK was 70 per cent, such being remarkably higher than 46.3 per cent in those given no chemotherapy (p less than 0.07). There was no drug related death and only a slight leukopenia and hepatotoxicity occurred in some patients.