Recommendations Developed for Radiation Therapy for Gastric Cancer

TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- In a practice guideline issued by the American Society for Radiation Oncology and published online Nov. 17 in Practical Radiation Oncology, recommendations are presented for the use of radiation therapy for gastric cancer.Christopher J. Anker, M.D., from the University of Vermont Cancer Center in Burlington, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and created recommendations addressing the indications for radiation therapy for gastric cancer in a variety of clinical settings.The researchers note that for all patients, multidisciplinary evaluation and decision-making are recommended. Perioperative chemotherapy is recommended for patients with cT2-4 and/or N+ resectable gastric cancer, preferably 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel (FLOT). For patients with resectable disease, perioperative durvalumab plus FLOT offers a significant improvement in event-free survival versus FLOT alone and is being adopted as the standard of care. For patients who are not candidates for perioperative chemotherapy, preoperative chemoradiation is recommended; a conditional recommendation is made if there is concern for a margin-positive or incomplete resection. For patients who are not candidates for perioperative or postoperative chemotherapy, or if a suboptimal resection was done among those who proceeded directly to surgery, postoperative chemoradiation is conditionally recommended. For patients with nonmetastatic disease who are inoperable either at initial diagnosis or at the time of locoregional recurrence, definitive chemoradiation may provide durable control. Metastasis-directed therapy along with systemic therapy is conditionally recommended for patients with oligometastatic gastric cancer. For patients with bleeding, pain, and obstruction, palliative radiation therapy is efficacious."This is the first guideline to clarify the role of radiation therapy across all stages of the disease, providing patient-centered, evidence-based recommendations to guide clinical practice," Anker said in a statement.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Recommendations Developed for Radiation Therapy for Gastric Cancer

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