Surgical outcomes in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer treated with S-1 and oxaliplatin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: We wished to evaluate the impact of S-1 combined with oxaliplatin (SOX regimen) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy on surgical outcomes after gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy. METHODS: From February 2012 to September 2013, 170 patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage II–III gastric cancer were assessed retrospectively. Eighty patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy before radical gastrectomy, and 90 patients received surgical treatment with adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients received S-1 (80 mg/m(2)/day; days 1–14) and oxaliplatin (130 mg/m(2); day 1) as neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, and this schedule was repeated every 3 weeks. Gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy was standard therapy for each patient. Surgical outcomes between the two groups were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the total prevalence of complications between neoadjuvant and adjuvant groups (18.8% vs. 22.2%, P = 0.704). The most common postoperative complications were surgical site infection (6.5%) and gastrointestinal motility disorders (3.5%). The clinical response rate was 68.8%, and ten patients (12.5%) had a pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The SOX regimen as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for AJCC stage II/III gastric cancer can be effective without increasing the risk of postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS: The SOX regimen could be a neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer worldwide in the future. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12957-015-0444-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.