[24 hour infusion of CPT-11/oral UFT/LV]

A clinical study has been conducted to investigate whether chemotherapy with 24 hour infusion of CPT-11/oral UFT/LV is an effective and safe regimen for advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer. The chemotherapy consisted of a fixed dose of UFT (300 mg/m(2)/day)/LV (75 mg/body) orally administered daily (day 1-day 21) followed by CPT-11 (80-120 mg/m(2)) iv, as a 24-hour infusion (day 1 and day 15). This treatment was carried out weekly for 3 weeks followed by a week rest period, then repeated every 4 weeks. The MTD was reached at 120 mg/m(2) of CPT-11 (2 cases of grade 3 leucopenia and neutropenia) and 100 mg/m(2) (a case of grade 3 anorexia). Therefore the 100 mg/m(2) dose level was established as the recommended dose (RD). All patients were evaluable for efficacy; 5 PR, 4 SD and 1 PD. The overall response rate was 41.7%. The present study suggests that combination chemotherapy with CPT-11 and oral UFT/LV is well tolerated and might be a promising regimen for advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer.