[Nocturnal infusion of 5-fluorouracil in advanced digestive tract cancer--two case reports]

Two patients, with terminal stage digestive tract carcinoma, are presented who received continuous nocturnal administration of intravenous 5-FU (300 mg/m2/day), between 9:00 pm and 8:00 am for more than 45 consecutive days. They showed improvement in general physical and functional status, and no side effects were observed. The first case is that of a patient with not only an early gastric cancer, but also a nonresectable esophageal cancer. After therapy, complete disappearance of the gastric cancer was noted by endoscopy. The second patient had advanced gastric cancer with carcinomatosis. He received intraperitoneal cisplatinum for intractable ascites without improvement. But after continuous nocturnal 5-FU therapy, a significant reduction in ascites was noted. Two cases did not experience leukopenia and no significant side effects were noted, even in the second patient who received nocturnal 5-FU for 122 days. The therapeutic effects of continuous nocturnal 5-FU administration generally appeared after 20 days, so a prolonged period of time seems to be important.