Association between neutropenia and response to ramucirumab and paclitaxel in patients with metastatic gastric cancer

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate if the occurrence of neutropenia is correlated with response to ramucirumab plus paclitaxel for metastatic gastric cancer. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of patients treated with ramucirumab plus paclitaxel. RESULTS: Fifty-three patients were evaluated. Among these, 10 patients (26.5%) developed grade >/=3 neutropenia. Patients with grade >/=3 neutropenia reported a progression-free survival of 6.6 months (95% confidence interval 3.3-8.4) and overall survival of 11 months (95% confidence interval 5.9-13.1) vs. 4.4 months (95% confidence interval 3.9-5.2) and 8.7 months (95% confidence interval 7.8-10.1) respectively in patients' group with lower grade events. CONCLUSION: Our analysis seems to suggest that the occurrence of neutropenia predicts response to treatment with ramucirumab and paclitaxel.