UFT as maintenance therapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer responsive to the FOLFOX4 regimen.
Oncology
; 72(5-6): 267-73, 2007.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18187947
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In advanced colorectal cancer (ACC), FOLFOX4 has been accepted as a standard chemotherapeutic regimen. Due to the neurotoxicity induced by oxaliplatin, which occurs in about 50% of patients during the 6-month FOLFOX4 regimen, and the frequent need for hospitalization, alternative regimens may be required. We aimed to determine whether a 'maintenance' therapy with oral UFT (uracil-tegafur) in patients responding to FOLFOX4 is able to maintain the response and improve the quality of life (QoL) as a result of the outpatient regimen and lower psychological distress.METHODS:
Untreated patients with ACC who did not progress after 6 months of FOLFOX4 received oral UFT until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The aim of the study was to maintain the response obtained with the FOLFOX4 regimen for at least 6 months. The secondary objective was to evaluate QoL during the two different treatment regimens utilizing the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36).RESULTS:
From January 2003 to August 2004, out of the enrolled 30 patients [22 males and 8 females; 2 patients with a complete response (CR), 14 patients with a partial response (PR) and 6 patients in stable disease (SD) after 6 months of FOLFOX4] 22 continued therapy with UFT until progression without significant toxicity; the remaining 8 patients (27%) had progressive disease (PD) during or at the end of FOLFOX4 and were treated with other regimen. After 6 months of UFT, 4 patients (13%) had CR, 6 patients (20%) PR and 4 patients (13%) SD; 16 patients (53%) progressed. Median follow-up was 31 months [interquartile range (IQR) 20-31 months]; 14 patients died of PD. The median time to progression was 13.9 (IQR 7.7-20.1) months and the median survival time was 31 months (IQR 20-31 months). Evaluation of QoL demonstrated a trend towards better QoL during UFT treatment.CONCLUSIONS:
These results support the feasibility of maintaining good response and improving QoL (measured by SF-36) with an oral fluoropyrimidine after combination chemotherapy in ACC patients; moreover, since UFT can be used orally, patient compliance is increased and the duration of hospitalization can be decreased.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Neoplasias Colorrectales
/
Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica
Aspecto:
Patient_preference
Límite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Oncology
Año:
2007
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia