ABSTRACT
Thirty previously untreated patients with advanced measurable gastric cancer were given a combination chemotherapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil, 400 mg/m2, and leucovorin, 200 mg/m2 iv on days 1 to 3, mitomycin-C, 10 mg/m2 on day 1 (every other cycle) and adriamycin, 40 mg/m2 on day 2, repeated every 21 days. The overall response rate was 46% (14/30; 95% confidence limits: 28%-64%) including 4 patients with a complete remission. Eight patients progressed. Median duration of remission (CR+PR) was 10 months, with a median survival of 13, 8 and 4 months for CR+PR, NC and PD, respectively. Main toxicities were leukopenia (WHO grade III-IV in 36% of the patients) and alopecia. One patient died from myocardial infarction after an adriamycin cumulative dose of 480 mg/m2. No other treatment-related death occurred. L-FAM2 is an effective combination for advanced gastric carcinoma. Further studies based on the association of leucovorin and 5-fluorouracil in combination with other active drugs are warranted.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use , Stomach Neoplasms/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Doxorubicin/administration & dosage , Drug Evaluation , Female , Fluorouracil/administration & dosage , Humans , Leucovorin/administration & dosage , Male , Middle Aged , Mitomycin , Mitomycins/administration & dosage , Neoplasm Staging , Remission Induction , Stomach Neoplasms/pathologyABSTRACT
Forty patients with metastatic breast cancer were treated with a new combination regimen consisting of cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, high-dose folinic acid and 5-fluorouracil (super-FEC). A major objective response was observed in 32 patients (80%). Among these, 11 patients (27%) experienced a complete remission. The median duration of response was 10+ and 12+ months for CR and PR, respectively. The most common side-effect was oral mucositis (Grade III = nine patients; grade IV = two patients), while haematological toxicity was virtually absent. Considering the high-risk characteristics of the vast majority of the enrolled patients (75% had dominant visceral disease), these preliminary results suggest that super-FEC has a powerful activity in poor-prognosis metastatic breast cancer with an acceptable degree of toxicity.
