ABSTRACT
We carried out a pilot study on the clinical efficacy and safety of outpatient anti-cancer chemotherapy with 5-FU and CDDP for 5 patients with advanced cancer of the stomach or colon, using two disposable balloon pumps. The protocol was combined chemotherapy with continuous intravenous infusion of 5-FU (500 mg/body/day) and CDDP (10 mg/body/day) in 5-day courses for 1 week, and the therapy was repeated as long as possible. Pharmacokinetic study showed that the mean serum concentration of 5-FU was 64.3+/-9.2 ng/ml, and the serum concentration of total Pt increased continuously during CDDP injection. Thus, both drugs were injected, safely and surely. One patient had a clinically evaluable lesion, and the anti-tumor effect of this case was SD. But the serum CEA level was decreased in 3 cases. The side effect of Grade 3 and 4 was not seen, but nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and weight loss were observed frequently. This therapy enabled the patients to stay home 51.6+/-10.0 days longer than with the usual methods in hospital, and this therapy was thought to improve their quality of life. Thus, this therapy is feasible and quite useful, but much attention must be paid to the patient's oral uptake during the therapy, and the clinical effects should be evaluated in randomized control trials.
