Raltitrexed and oxaliplatin hepatic arterial infusion for advanced colorectal cancer: a retrospective study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combined hepatic arterial infusion (HAI), which is a combination of raltitrexed and oxaliplatin, in refractory colorectal carcinoma with only liver metastases. Seventeen consecutive patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer, after the failure of two lines of systemic chemotherapy, were treated with HAI raltitrexed (3 mg/m over 1 h) followed by oxaliplatin (130 mg/m over 2 h) every 3 weeks between January 2006 and January 2009. All patients presented with the metastatic disease limited to the liver and had failed at least two lines of chemotherapy, which contained oxaliplatin, irinotecan and a fluoropyrimidine. The median number of cycles was six (range 1-15). We observed three complete responses and eight partial responses among assessable patients (overall response rate in intention to treat, 65%; 95% confidence interval, 44.3-87.7%). The median time to progression was 10.5 months and the median survival time was 27.5 months. Toxicity included grade 3-4 neutropenia (in 17%), grade 3-4 thrombopenia (in 17%), and grade 2 abdominal pain (in 47%). In conclusion, the combination regimen of HAI raltitrexed and oxaliplatin is feasible and promising in patients who presented isolated hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer after failure of irinotecan and oxaliplatin treatment. Further evaluation of this combination is required.