[Outpatient chemotherapy with continuous intravenous infusion for patients with recurrent renal cell carcinoma or advanced prostate carcinoma].

ABSTRACT

We tried outpatient chemotherapy with continuous intravenous infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin (CDDP) for patients with recurrent renal cell carcinoma or advanced prostate carcinoma. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of our drug delivery system using two disposable balloon pumps and subcutaneous port, subjective symptoms caused by chemotherapy, and quality of life (QOL). There were 12 patients, including 7 cases of recurrent renal cell carcinoma and 5 cases of advanced prostate carcinoma. Their performance status (PS) was grade 0 or 1. The protocol for renal cell carcinoma consisted of combined chemotherapy with continuous infusion of 5-FU 250 mg/m2/day and CDDP 3 mg/m2/day in 2 weeks for 1 cycles (4 weeks). 5-FU and CDDP were administered with the Baxter infuser pumps (Intermate LV 1.5) and after 1 week we changed the new pumps. In treating advanced prostate carcinoma, Honvan 100 mg/day was substituted for 5-FU. We experienced 2 cases of problems with the drug delivery system during 10 months, which needed a change of the subcutaneous port. QOL score and subjective symptoms showed that patients were not always free because of carrying pumps and the side effects of chemotherapy, but they can return to social life and family instead of spending much time in the hospital. In conclusion, our drug delivery system is safe for outpatient chemotherapy, and QOL of patients with home anti-cancer chemotherapy is higher than that of patients with chemotherapy in the hospital.