Resumen
The response rate after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains limited. Moreover, there are currently no biomarkers enabling an individual prediction of therapeutic efficacy. The aim of this study was the identification of serum biomarkers of early response to NAC. The elevated level of IL-6 prior to treatment and cycle 2 of the FLOT regimen might be a predictor of pathological response to NAC in locally advanced gastric cancer (GC) or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer. The results were obtained from a small group of patients and currently cannot be used in everyday clinical practice. Confirmation of the results in a larger group of patients seems to be essential from a clinical point of view, bearing in mind that IL-6 plays a significant role in gastric cancer biology, particularly in metastasis formation and in the mechanism of chemotherapeutic resistance.