[Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer after the adjuvant chemotherapy trial of S-1 for gastric cancer in Hiroshima prefecture: results from a questionnaire survey and future challenges].

A questionnaire survey on postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer was conducted for 76 hospitals affiliated with the Hiroshima Oncology Group of Gastric Cancer in Hiroshima prefecture in January 2011. Responses were obtained from 29 hospitals, including 12 core cancer treatment hospitals, and the following results were obtained. The percentage of patients completing 1 year of oral S-1 was >70%, affecting approximately 75% of the entire hospital cohort. Dose reduction was conducted in approximately 30% of patients because of age, poor PS, and renal insufficiency. The standard S-1 regimen (4 weeks of S-1 treatment followed by 2 weeks of rest)was adopted in almost half of the patients, whereas the rest of the patients received another treatment schedule such as 2 weeks of treatment followed by 1 week of rest. Dose reduction and withdrawal of S-1 due to adverse events were conducted more frequently in hospitals with low completion rates of 1-year S- 1 treatment than those with a high completion rate. S-1 was most commonly discontinued because of subjective adverse events and patient request, although the discontinuation rate according to objective adverse events such as bone marrow depression was not very high. The fact that some hospitals had high completion rates suggested the importance of supplementary tools for patient IC.