Clinical efficacy of endostar combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis in gastric cancer: results from a retrospective study

Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) resulting from metastatic dissemination of gastric cancer (GC) cells carries a dismal prognosis, and current treatments have shown little efficacy. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant human endostatin (Endostar), a broad-spectrum anti-angiogenic peptide, in combination with chemotherapy in PC derived from GC. From January 2014 to December 2016, 33 patients with advanced stage GC associated with PC were enrolled. Pathological, imaging, and treatment data were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-one patients received systemic chemotherapy (control group), while 12 patients were administered Endostar and chemotherapy. Combined treatment with Endostar/chemotherapy showed the tendency to increase objective response rate (41.7% vs. 23.8%) and disease control rate (83.3% vs. 61.9%) compared with the control group, although the differences were not statistically significant. Endostar plus chemotherapy effectively extended time to progression (4.6 ± 0.3 months vs. 3.5 ± 0.3 months, P = 0.03) and median overall survival (15.8 ± 1.7 months vs. 9.8 ± 0.9 months, P = 0.01) compared with chemotherapy alone. The combination therapy did not cause more adverse reactions than chemotherapy alone. Thus, the addition of Endostar to conventional chemotherapy treatment effectively attenuated the development of PC and extended survival, with high safety and tolerance.