Metastatic or locally advanced colorectal cancer treated with 5-fluorouracil and low dose leucovorin.

Eighty-one patients with metastatic or locally advanced colorectal cancer were treated at four oncological centers in Denmark with a regimen consisting of 5-fluorouracil 400 mg/m2 and leucovorin 20 mg/m2 for 5 consecutive days every 4 weeks. The response rate was 21% among all 81 patients (CR 3, PR 14). The median survival was 10 months regardless of measurability, sex and location of disease. Toxicity was mild, 6 (7%) patients were excluded from the study due to gastrointestinal side-effects and 15 (19%) patients had the 5-FU dose reduced due to side-effects. The results are comparable to those of other studies using different doses of leucovorin.