Evaluation of daunorubicin in adenocarcinoma of the large intestine
Weiss, A.J.; Cantor, R.I.
Cancer Treatment Reports 60(11): 1667-1670
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0361-5960 PMID: 1021236 Document Number: 97265
Seventy percent of the patients in this study had evidence of hepatic metastatic disease. All patients who had remission had hepatic metastatic disease, and hepatic metastases seemed to respond more rapidly and completely than metastases at other sites. All patients that had remissions were men, but 70% of the patients in this series were men. All patients in this series received prior therapy with 5-FU [5-fluorouracil] and, at the time daunorubicin was studied, were resistant to this agent. Four patients who responded to daunorubicin were initially resistant to 5-FU. Two of the responders previously responded to 5-FU and relapsed. None of the patients was previously treated with adriamycin. While the number of patients treated in this series was quite small and the objective remission rate leaves much to be desired, the results must be considered in light of advanced 5-FU-resistant disease. If one excludes previously untreated patients from the Frytak et al. series, their response rate drops to < 3%. Not only was this response rate over 3 times greater than theirs, but the median duration of response (12 mo.) was better than theirs (3 mo.). Daunorubicin demonstrated a limited but definite activity against metastatic adenocarcinomas arising in the colorectum. Further trials with daunorubicin used alone or in combination with other agents in this disease and perhaps in certain other neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract seem to be warranted.