[Three cases of advanced gastric cancer resected after successful treatment with the novel oral anticancer drug TS-1].

We operated on 3 patients with advanced gastric cancer after successful treatment with novel oral 5-fluorouracil derivatives (TS-1). In all 3 patients, gastrointestinal fiberscopy revealed a considerable reduction in the tumor after oral administration of TS-1 in our clinic. Case 1 underwent surgery after an interval of 1 day following oral administration of TS-1 for 18 days. Pathologically, no cancer cells were found in the resected stomach and a few cancer cells were found only in resected lymph nodes. In case 2, who underwent surgery after an interval of 7 days following oral administration of TS-1 for 14 days, a few cancer cells were found only in the submucosal layer of the stomach and no viable cancer cells remained in the metastasized lymph nodes. In case 3, who underwent surgery after an interval of 11 days following administration of TS-1 for 26 days, scattered cancer cells, mostly fibrotic, were found as far as the subserosal layer. The pathological effectiveness of chemotherapy was grade 2 or 3 in each case. Case 2 and 3 followed a satisfactory postoperative course; however, case 1 suddenly had endotoxinemia on the 7th postoperative day. Although the patient had temporary multiple organ failure, he recovered eventually. All 3 patients have been well without any signs of recurrence for more than a year after surgery.