Volume 29, Issue 4, 2020
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.898
Predictive Role of Plasma Fluorouracil Concentration Monitoring in Further Improving the Effects of Chemotherapy on Advanced Gastric Cancer and Relieving Adverse Reactions
Abstract
Objective: To study the predictive role of plasma fluorouracil concentration monitoring in further improving the effects of chemotherapy on advanced gastric cancer and relieving adverse reactions.
Methods: A total of 90 patients with advanced gastric cancer who received DCF (docetaxel + cisplatin + fluorouracil) chemotherapy in our hospital from October 2018 to October 2019 were enrolled as research objects and assigned into control group (n=45) and observation group (n=45) according to the random number table method. In control group, the dosage of chemotherapy drugs was calculated according to the body surface area. Meanwhile, in observation group, the dosage of chemotherapy drugs was calculated in accordance with the body surface area in the first chemotherapy cycle, and it was adjusted in the second chemotherapy cycle according to the monitoring results of plasma fluorouracil concentration in the previous chemotherapy cycle. The short-term therapeutic efficacy, cancer-related symptom scores, serum tumor marker levels, incidence rate of adverse reactions, and quality of life score were compared between the two groups.
Results: The disease control rate of observation group was higher than that of control group (71.11% vs. 48.89%, P<0.05). The cancer-related pain and cancer-related fatigue scores of the two groups were decreased after treatment compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), and they were lower in observation group than those in control group after treatment (P<0.05). Compared with those before treatment, the levels of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA125 and CA199 in both groups declined after treatment (P<0.05), and they were lower in observation group than those in control group after treatment (P<0.05). The incidence rate of adverse reactions such as nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, bone marrow suppression and mucositis was lower in observation group in comparison with that in control group (P<0.05). Besides, compared with that before treatment, the quality of life score rose in both groups after treatment (P<0.05), and it was higher in observation group than that in control group after treatment (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Monitoring plasma fluorouracil concentration has a good guiding effect on the chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer, which can improve the efficacy and reduce the adverse reactions of chemotherapy, thus improving the quality of life of patients.
Keywords
advanced gastric cancer; fluorouracil; plasma concentration; chemotherapy; adverse reaction