Quan HL, Xia L, Hu Y, Wang GY, Wang C. Impact of sintilimab with first-line therapy on tumor marker response in advanced gastric cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(5): 117085 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i5.117085]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Chao Wang, Chief Physician, Department of Oncology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 64 Chaohu North Road, Hefei 238000, Anhui Province, China. wangchao10107@163.com
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Oncology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
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May 15, 2026 (publication date) through May 14, 2026
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World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
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1948-5204
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Quan HL, Xia L, Hu Y, Wang GY, Wang C. Impact of sintilimab with first-line therapy on tumor marker response in advanced gastric cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(5): 117085 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i5.117085]
World J Gastrointest Oncol. May 15, 2026; 18(5): 117085 Published online May 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i5.117085
Impact of sintilimab with first-line therapy on tumor marker response in advanced gastric cancer
Hong-Liang Quan, Lin Xia, Yan Hu, Gui-Yuan Wang, Chao Wang
Hong-Liang Quan, Lin Xia, Yan Hu, Gui-Yuan Wang, Department of Oncology, Hefei BOE Hospital, Hefei 230013, Anhui Province, China
Chao Wang, Department of Oncology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 238000, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Quan HL and Wang C designed the research study and wrote the manuscript; Xia L and Hu Y performed the research and collected the data; Wang GY and Wang C analyzed the data; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by 2024 Hefei BOE Hospital Institutional Research Project, No. YJKT2024008; and Anhui Provincial Higher Education Scientific Research Project (Natural Science Category), No. 2024AH050672.
Institutional review board statement: The research was reviewed and approved by Hefei BOE Hospital.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study has not yet been registered with clinical trials.
Informed consent statement: All participants provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: No other data available.
Corresponding author: Chao Wang, Chief Physician, Department of Oncology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 64 Chaohu North Road, Hefei 238000, Anhui Province, China. wangchao10107@163.com
Received: December 2, 2025 Revised: December 29, 2025 Accepted: February 6, 2026 Published online: May 15, 2026 Processing time: 162 Days and 16.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Advanced gastric cancer (GC) remains a significant cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with limited therapeutic options and poor prognosis. Combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy has shown promise for improving outcomes; however, its impact on tumor marker responses remains underexplored. Therefore, we hypothesized that sintilimab combined with S-1 plus oxaliplatin/xeloda plus oxaliplatin (SOX/XELOX) regimens could enhance tumor marker response in patients with advanced GC.
AIM
To investigate the impact of sintilimab plus SOX/XELOX regimen on tumor markers in advanced GC.
METHODS
This randomized controlled trial enrolled 60 patients (2019-2025) treated at our hospital. The patients received sintilimab plus SOX/XELOX or chemotherapy alone. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9, and CA72-4 levels were assessed at baseline and 12 weeks. Response rates (objective response rate and disease control rate) were compared, and Spearman correlation analyzed the relationship between tumor marker reduction and shrinkage.
RESULTS
Compared with the control group, the combination therapy group demonstrated significantly greater reductions in tumor marker levels post-treatment (P < 0.05), with significantly higher tumor marker response rates (P < 0.01). This study demonstrated that the combination therapy group achieved significantly better objective response rate (40.00% vs 13.33%) and disease control rate (70.00% vs 46.67%) than the control group and the tumor shrinkage rate in the combination therapy group was significantly higher (P < 0.05). Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed that after 12 weeks of treatment, tumor shrinkage rates showed significant positive correlations with Δ carcinoembryonic antigen % (r = 0.642), ΔCA19-9% (r = 0.587), and ΔCA72-4% (r = 0.613) (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
Sintilimab plus SOX/XELOX regimen reduced tumor markers in advanced GC, correlated with tumor shrinkage, and may serve as an efficacy indicator for this regimen.
Core Tip: This study demonstrated that sintilimab plus S-1 plus oxaliplatin/xeloda plus oxaliplatin regimen therapy significantly enhanced the reduction in tumor markers and improved tumor marker response rates in patients with advanced gastric cancer. The early and profound decrease in these markers showed a significant positive correlation with objective tumor shrinkage, highlighting their potential as valuable dynamic indicators for evaluating the efficacy of this immunochemotherapy combination.
