Uracil with ftorafur and low dose oral folinic acid in advanced colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND

Low dose oral Folinic acid was used together with uracil with ftorafur (UFT) producing some response with low toxicity in advanced colorectal cancer. However, the 28 day regimen produced 20 per cent severe (grade III, IV) diarrhea. This study required 21 days' treatment to evaluate the response rate and toxicity in advanced colorectal cancer.

METHOD

UFT 300 mg/m2/day together with oral Folinic acid 7.5 mg/dose for 21 days with 7 days rest were required to treat 28 cases of recurrent or metastatic colorectal cancer.

RESULTS

Partial response was seen in 13.6 per cent of 22 evaluable cases and minimal response seen in 18.2 per cent. The majority (77%) of these patients had previously been treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). These results are comparable to other studies. Toxicity was low with 3.3 per cent grade III, IV diarrhea.

CONCLUSION

This regimen produced some activity in metastatic colorectal cancer with low toxicity.