Feasibility of weekday-on/weekend-off oral UFT/Leucovorin schedule as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer
Sadahiro, S.; Suzuki, T.; Maeda, Y.; Makuuchi, H.; Murayama, C.
Gan to Kagaku Ryoho. Cancer and ChemoTherapy 33(3): 333-336
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 0385-0684 PMID: 16531713 Document Number: 598716
Two phase III studies revealed an oral UFT/Leucovorin (LV) regimen, in which the drugs are taken for 28 consecutive days every 35 days, which proved to be equivalent to an infusional 5-fluorouracil/LV regimen for metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). The weekday-on/weekend-off schedule for UFT, which is taken for 5 consecutive days followed by 2 drug-free days,has been reported to be safe and to have good feasibility. In the present study, we investigated the weekday-on/weekend-off schedule for UFT/LV in 54 patients with CRC. The median administration period was 8 months. Ten patients (19%) showed grade 2 or more severe adverse reactions. One of them had grade 3 diarrhea and anorexia. Grade 2 anemia was observed in 9 cases (19%) and grade 2 leucopenia was in 2 cases (4%). Myelotoxicity was mild. These results suggested that the adverse reactions in the weekday-on/weekend-off schedule for UFT/LV are less severe than the conventional UFT/LV schedule reported previously. Antitumor effects and survival benefits of the two schedules should be evaluated by a phase III study.