Chemosensitivity testing of primary tumor cells from gastric cancer patients with liver metastasis can identify effective antitumor drugs

The liver metastasis of gastric carcinoma is resistant to conventionally av ailable treatment. Twenty patients with liver metastasis of gastric cancer were treated by arterial drug infusion ruing a reservoir and seven cases we re treated with systemic chemotherapy. The resected primary gastric cancer specimen was used for chemosensitivity assay with 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2y l)-2,5-diphenyl-2H tetrazolium bromide (MTT) endpoint, and the patients wer e treated without reference to the results of the chemosensitivity assay. T he mean survival period was assessed according to the histology of the prim ary lesion, the grade of liver metastasis and,the presence of peritoneal di ssemination. No significant differences were observed in the primary tumor histology and grade of liver metastasis, brit the survival period of the pa tients with liver metastasis and peritoneal dissemination was significantly shorter than that of the patients without peritoneal dissemination. Nine p atients were treated with drugs that were effective in the chemosensitivity assay, and their responses included two complete responses and two partial responses; these patients showed a significantly prolonged survival period compared with patients treated with drugs that were nor effective in the a ssay, The chemosensitivity assay is useful for evaluating the effectiveness of antitumor agents against liver metastasis of gastric cancer.