Efficacy and safety observation of apatinib in treatment of advanced gastric cancer

Objective To investigate the effect and safety of apatinib in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Methods A total of 60 patients with advanced gastric cancer at the first Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College from April 2015 to October 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, and all patients were divided into two groups according to the treatment method, each group of 30 cases. The control group was treated with conventional treatment, and the observation group was given the treatment of apatinib on the basis of the control group, and then the clinical curative effect and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results There were 2 cases (6.67%) of complete remission in the observation group, 14 cases (46.67%) of partial remission, 10 cases (33.33%) of stability and 4 cases (13.33%) of disease progression, and the total effective rate was 53.33% (16/30). The control group had no complete remission, 8 cases (26.67%) of partial remission, 11 cases (36.67%) of stability and 11 cases (36.67%) of disease progression, and the total effective rate was 26.67% (8/30). The difference of total effective rate between the two groups was statistically significant (χ 2 = 4.444, P = 0.035). There was no significant difference in the level of tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA)199, CA125, cytokeratin 19 fragment antigen 21-1 (CYFRA21-1) between the two groups before and after treatment (all P > 0.05). The incidence of hand-foot syndrome and hypertension in the observation group was higher than that in the control group [73.33% (22/30) vs. 43.33% (13/30), H = 5.554, P = 0.018; 76.67% (23/30) vs. 46.67% (14/30), H = 5.711, P = 0.017]. The incidence of proteinuria, bone marrow suppression and the cardiac adverse reactions in the observation group was higher than that in the control group [63.33% (19/30) vs. 33.33% (10/30), H = 3.300, P = 0.069; 60.00%(18/30) vs. 36.67% (11/30), H = 5.455, P = 0.071; 53.33% (16/30) vs. 30.00% (9/30), H = 3.360, P = 0.067]. Conclusion Apatinib is effective in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer, but the occurrence of hand-foot syndrome and hypertension should be paid close attention during the treatment. Key words: Stomach neoplasms; Tumor markers, biological; Molecular targeted therapy; Apatinib; Comparative effectiveness research; Adverse effects