Takashima A, et al. – Given that investigators of the ABSOLUTE trial previously demonstrated the non-inferiority of weekly nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (w-nab-PTX) to weekly solvent-based paclitaxel (w-sb-PTX) for overall survival (OS), researchers investigated predictive factors for efficacies of these agents in patients with pretreated advanced gastric cancer. They divided patients enrolled in the ABSOLUTE trial into apparent peritoneal metastasis group (PM group) and no apparent peritoneal metastasis group (no PM group), based on baseline imaging evaluated by RECIST version 1.1 criteria and amount of ascites. The w-nab-PTX and w-sb-PTX arms had 240 and 243 patients, respectively. In the PM group, the w-nab-PTX arm (n=88) had longer OS than the w-sb-PTX arm (n=103), and median survival time (MST) of 9.9 and 8.7 months, respectively. The investigators, thus, suggested the presence of apparent peritoneal metastasis as a potential predictor for selecting w-nab-PTX for pretreated patients with advanced gastric cancer.