A Phase II Study of Tri-weekly Low-dose Nab-paclitaxel Chemotherapy for Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer

Nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel has demonstrated antitumor activity against advanced gastric cancer. However, gastric cancer patients can be difficult to treat with the recommended dose because of the high incidence of adverse toxicities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of low-dose nab-paclitaxel in a multicenter, single-arm, phase II study. Treatment included low doses of 180 mg/m nab-paclitaxel administered on day 1 of each 21-day cycle. The primary endpoint was defined as the overall response rate (ORR). The secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), safety, and overall survival (OS). A total of 34 patients were enrolled in the full-analysis set. The ORR was 5.9%. The median PFS and OS were 2.4 months and 9.2 months, respectively. The most common grade 3/4 toxicities were anemia (8.8%), neutropenia (5.9%), appetite loss (5.9%) and peripheral sensory neuropathy (5.9%). No treatment-related deaths occurred. The tri-weekly low dose of nab-paclitaxel therapy is effective towards advanced gastric cancer patients with good tolerability and an acceptable margin of safety.