A phase I/II study of oral uracil/tegafur (UFT), leucovorin and irinotecan in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), toxicity profile and response rate of the oral 5-fluorouracil prodrug UFT (tegafur/uracil) and leucovorin (LV) in combination with irinotecan in patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with histologically proven advanced or metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma received first-line chemotherapy comprising UFT 250 mg/m(2)/day and LV 90 mg/day given on days 1 to 14, with escalating doses of irinotecan (200-300 mg/m(2)) administered intravenously on day 1 of a three-weekly cycle. Eligibility criteria were standard. The MTD was defined as the dose at which >33% of six patients experienced a dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) during cycle 1. RESULTS: A total of 32 patients were studied. Initially, six patients were treated at each of the irinotecan dose levels (200, 250 and 300 mg/m(2)) combined with UFT 250 mg/m(2)/day and LV 90 mg/day. DLTs consisting of grade 3 or 4 diarrhoea and febrile neutropenia were observed in one of 20 patients at 250 mg/m(2) and three of six patients at the 300 mg/m(2) irinotecan dose level. Having defined the MTD, the 250 mg/m(2) dose level was established as the recommended dose (RD) and expanded to 20 patients in whom treatment was generally well tolerated. The overall response rate was 19%, with five patients having a partial response (PR) and 18 stable disease (SD) out of 32 response-evaluable patients. CONCLUSION: UFT and LV can be safely combined with irinotecan. The RDs for future studies are UFT 250 mg/m(2)/day and LV 90 mg/day given on days 1-14, with irinotecan 250 mg/m(2) administered on day 1, every 3 weeks. This combination is well tolerated and active. Further investigation of UFT and LV in combination with irinotecan is warranted in patients with colorectal cancer.

Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of DACA (XR5000): a novel inhibitor of topoisomerase I and II. CRC Phase I/II Committee.

DACA, also known as XR5000, is an acridine derivative active against both topoisomerase I and II. In this phase I study, DACA was given as a 3-h intravenous infusion on 3 successive days, repeated every 3 weeks. A total of 41 patients were treated at 11 dose levels between 9 mg m(-2) d(-1) and the maximum tolerated dose of 800 mg m(-2) day(-1). The commonest, and dose-limiting, toxicity was pain in the infusion arm. One patient given DACA through a central venous catheter experienced chest pain with transient electrocardiogram changes, but no evidence of myocardial infarction. At the highest dose levels, several patients also experienced flushing, pain and paraesthesia around the mouth, eyes and nose and a feeling of agitation. Other side-effects, such as nausea and vomiting, myelosuppression, stomatitis and alopecia, were uncommon. There was one minor response but no objective responses. DACA pharmacokinetics were linear and did not differ between days 1 and 3. The pattern of toxicity seen with DACA is unusual and appears related to the mode of delivery. It is possible that higher doses of DACA could be administered using a different schedule of administration.

Quinidine as a resistance modulator of epirubicin in advanced breast cancer: mature results of a placebo-controlled randomized trial.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of quinidine, a putative modulator of P-glycoprotein-mediated drug resistance, on the response rate and toxicity profile of epirubicin in patients with advanced breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1989 and 1992, 223 eligible patients were randomized in double-blind fashion to receive epirubicin 100 mg/m2 by intravenous (i.v.) bolus and prednisolone 25 mg orally twice daily, along with either placebo or quinidine (250 mg) capsules, taken for 4 days before and 2 days after chemotherapy. Treatment was continued for a maximum of eight courses. RESULTS: Ten eligible patients did not complete the first cycle of treatment. Of the remaining patients, 106 in the placebo arm received 619 courses of treatment, and 107 in the quinidine arm received 612 courses. The median cumulative dose of epirubicin in both arms was 600 mg/m2. The median quinidine level (measured before epirubicin administration in 288 courses) was 5.5 mumol/L; at this concentration, the drug partially reverses anthracycline resistance in multidrug-resistant (MDR) breast carcinoma cells in vitro. There were no statistically significant differences in hematologic or gastrointestinal toxicity between the two arms. The response rate in the placebo arm was 44% (6% complete remission [CR], 38% partial remission [PR]), and in the quinidine arm was 43% (4% CR, 39% PR). Surviving patients have been monitored for a median time of 74 weeks, and there is no significant difference in the overall or progression-free survival between the two arms. The median survival times were 59 weeks for placebo and 47 weeks for quinidine patients. The estimated relative death rate (quinidine/placebo) was 1.2 (P = .247; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88 to 1.63). CONCLUSION: Quinidine at this dose does not significantly alter the toxicity profile, response rate, or survival after epirubicin chemotherapy in patients with advanced breast cancer. This may be due to ineffective modulation of P-glycoprotein by quinidine or the lack of expression of mdr-1 in a sufficient proportion of cells in these tumors, or alternative mechanisms underlying resistance to epirubicin.

rhGM-CSF ameliorates neutropenia in patients with malignant glioma treated with BCNU.

Nitrosoureas are the drugs most effective in the treatment of patients with intracerebral malignant glioma. Their limiting toxicity is delayed myelosuppression. A prospective, randomised crossover study of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) was performed in patients receiving BCNU for relapsed glioblastoma, to investigate whether the resulting haematological toxicity profile could be modified by rhGM-CSF. Adequate data for analysis were obtained in 13 patients. Following BCNU, the nadir neutrophil count was higher in 12 out of 13 patients during the rhGM-CSF-protected cycles compared with the unprotected cycles. The median nadir was also significantly higher (1.79, CI 0.76-3.52, P < 0.005). Five episodes of neutropenia (< 2 x 10(9) l-1) occurred during the unprotected cycles compared with none in the rhGM-CSF-protected cycles (P = 0.076). There was no evidence of any effect on platelets. This result shows that the haematological toxicity profile following therapeutic doses of BCNU can be modified. It suggests that rhGM-CSF and other growth factors should be investigated for clinical efficacy in chemotherapy using nitrosoureas.