[Cetuximab-associated skin ulceration in patient with metastatic colorectal cancer: a case report].

An 82-year-old female was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Hartmann's procedure was performed and a curative resection was successfully achieved. Postoperative staging according to the classification of the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum(The 7th Edition)was stage III. She received adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery with tegafur(UFT 300 mg/body/day)orally for 6 months. One year after the surgery, paraaortic lymph node metastasis and a local recurrence were diagnosed. She was treated with modified FOLFOX6 chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab. After 13 courses of treatment with FOLFOX6 and bevacizumab, multiple lung metastases were found. Therefore, we changed the chemotherapy regimens to FOLFIRI plus cetuximab. After 18 weeks of this new treatment she had two skin ulcerations around her stoma, a known side effect associated with cetuximab. We stopped cetuximab and continued chemotherapy with FOLFIRI alone. Seven weeks after cetuximab withdrawal, her skin ulcer healed with the support of a dermatologist and a wound ostomy continence nurse. We reintroduced cetuximab in a chemotherapy regimen with a reduced dose. After two infusions of cetuximab, skin ulceration recurred. We stopped cetuximab again and continued chemotherapy with FOLFIRI. Nine weeks later we resumed cetuximab, but this time the skin ulcer did not occur, and we were able to continue the chemotherapy regimen with FOLFIRI and cetuximab.

[Elderly patient with recurrent rectal cancer successfully responded to modified FOLFOX6 chemotherapy with bevacizumab--a case report].

An 80-year-old female visited our hospital with the chief complaint of lower abdominal pain and diarrhea. She was diagnosed to have rectal cancer. Hartmann operation was performed and curative resection was successfully achieved. Postoperative stage was III according to the classification of the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum(The 7th Edition). She was treated with oral tegafur(UFT 300mg/body/day)as adjuvant chemotherapy for 6 months. Paraaortic lymph node metastasis and local recurrence were diagnosed by abdominal CT 1 year after the surgery. Her performance status score was 0. She was treated with modified FOLFOX6 chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab. Abdominal CT revealed a partial response after 5 courses. She experienced grade 2 leukocyopenia, grade 3 neutropenia, grade 2 proteinuria and grade 2 hypertension.

Clinical significance of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase in adjuvant 5-fluorouracil liver perfusion chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the relationship between intratumoral dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) expression and response to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) liver perfusion chemotherapy (LPC) in pancreatic cancer patients, we evaluated DPD expression immunohistochemically in resected pancreatic cancer tissues. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Pancreatic cancer is considered a disease with a poor prognosis even if aggressive resection is performed. One of the main causes of death is hepatic metastasis soon after surgery. As a treatment, we have assessed adjuvant LPC via the portal vein using 5-FU just after pancreatectomy for advanced pancreatic cancer since 1994. However, the results remain unsatisfying. METHODS: Sixty-eight resected specimens were obtained from patients with pancreatic cancer from 1988 to 2000. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues were immunostained with polyclonal anti-DPD antibody. The relation between intratumoral DPD expression and the prognoses of pancreatic cancer patients was investigated statistically. RESULTS: Of the 68 tumors studied, 27 carcinomas (39.7%) were DPD(+), and 41 (60.3%) were DPD(-). In the DPD(+) group, there was no significant difference between the LPC(+) and LPC(-) subgroups, whereas in the DPD(-) group the LPC(+) subgroup showed a significantly higher survival rate than the LPC(-) subgroup. Moreover, in the LPC(+) group, overall survival in the DPD(-) subgroup was significantly better than in the DPD(+) subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: An immunohistochemical evaluation of intratumoral DPD expression might be useful in predicting responsiveness to 5-FU-based chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer patients. In the DPD(-) group, liver perfusion chemotherapy using 5-FU via the portal vein is effective adjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer once pancreatectomy has been performed.