Department of Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Corresponding Author:
Sung Soo Park ,Tel: +82-2-920-6772, Fax: +82-2-928-1631, Email: kugspss@korea.ac.kr
Received: October 2, 2008; Accepted: November 30, 2008.
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ABSTRACT
The fact that systemic therapy in addition to definitive regional treatment improves outcome for breast and colon cancer
is well established, but whether this is also the case for patients with gastric cancer has not been determined. Despite three
recent studies have clearly demonstrated that even modestly effective systemic therapy in combination with surgery produces
superior outcomes to surgery alone, no globally accepted standard regimen has yet been established. However, now
the benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy seem to be convincing since the advent of the three pivotal studies. Safer, more
convenient and more effective chemotherapy combinations are being developed. We need to know about these challenges
and how to select the optimal therapy for an individual patient. In this update, I will review the recent studies and provide
issues focusing on optimal adjuvant chemotherapy for resectable gastric cancer.