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Purpose: One of the first-line treatment for gastric cancer patients is oxaliplatin, and the efficacy of this chemotherapeutic can be attenuated by the microbiome. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated whether treatment with antibiotics improved the efficacy of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Patients and Methods: Fifty-four patients were assigned to the antibiotic-treated group and 35 to the antibiotic-untreated group. Results: The response rate of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in the antibiotic-treated and antibiotic-untreated groups was 66.7% and 41.4%, respectively (p = 0.038). The median progression-free survival after oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in the antibiotic-treated and antibiotic-untreated groups was 8.8 and 5.2 months, respectively (hazard ratio = 0.456, 95% confidence interval = 0.254– 0.819; p = 0.007, Log rank test). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that antibiotic treatment was the only clinical parameter that correlated with the response to oxaliplatin. Conclusion: Antibiotic treatment could be used therapeutically to enhance the efficacy of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Oxaliplatin and irinotecan are generally used to treat advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Antibiotics improve the cytotoxicity of oxaliplatin but not irinotecan in a colon cancer cell line in vitro. This study retrospectively assessed whether antibiotics improve the treatment efficacy of oxaliplatin- but not irinotecan-based therapy in advanced CRC patients. Patients and Methods. The medical records of 220 advanced CRC patients who underwent oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based therapy were retrospectively reviewed. The oxaliplatin and irinotecan groups were further divided into antibiotic-treated (group 1) and antibiotic-untreated (group 2) subgroups. Results. In oxaliplatin groups 1 and 2, the response rate (RR) was 58.2% and 30.2%, while the disease control rate (DCR) was 92.5% and 64.2%, respectively; the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10.5 months (95% confidence interval (CI) = 7.5–12.2) and 7.0 months (95% CI = 17.0–26.0), respectively, and the median overall survival (OS) was 23.8 months (95% CI = 5.1–9.1) and 17.4 months (95% CI = 13.1–24.9), respectively. In irinotecan groups 1 and 2, the RR was 17.8% and 20.0%, while the DCR was 75.6% and 69.1%, respectively; the median PFS was 8.2 months (95% CI = 6.2–12.7) and 7.9 months (95% CI = 12.0–23.0), respectively, and the median OS was 16.8 months (95% CI = 5.9–10.6) and 13.1 months (95% CI = 10.4–23.7), respectively. Conclusion. To improve the treatment efficacy of oxaliplatin-based therapy in advanced CRC patients, adding antibiotics is a potential therapeutic option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]