UFT plus or minus calcium folinate for metastatic colorectal cancer in older patients

Two studies were carried out to determine the activity and evaluate the toxicity of oral chemotherapy with uracil and tegafur in a 4:1 molar ratio (UFT) plus or minus calcium folinate in elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer. In one study, 106 patients received a fixed dose of UFT 400 mg/day in two daily doses every 12 hours continuously, plus calcium folinate 45 mg/day administered in three divided doses every 8 hours continuously. In study 2, calcium folinate was omitted, and the dose of UFT was increased to 400 mg/m2/day in two daily doses administered every 12 hours continuously to 95 patients. Treatments for both studies were administered until grade 3 or grade 4 toxicity occurred or disease progressed. The response rate among the 96 available patients in study 1 was 17.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10% to 27%); 41 patients (43%) achieved an objective response or stable disease. Overall survival was 13.7 months with a statistically significant difference between patients with no progressive disease and patients with progressive disease (P < .01). In study 2, 62 of 95 patients have now been evaluated for response. The response rate was 21% (95% CI, 13% to 30%); 38 patients (61%) experienced an objective response or stable disease. The overall survival for study 2 has not yet been evaluated. Toxicity was generally mild, consisting of grade 3 nausea/vomiting (6% in study 1 and 2% in study 2), grade 3 or grade 4 diarrhea (11% in study 1 and 7% in study 2), plus one case of grade 3 mucositis in study 1. These findings suggest that chemotherapy with UFT (with or without modulation with calcium folinate) is feasible for elderly patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma.