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Palliative treatment with low‐dose continuous infusion 5‐fluorouracil in recurrent and/or metastatic undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma type
Author(s) -
Fandi Abderrahim,
Taamma Abdelkrim,
Azli Nacer,
Bachouchi Mounir,
Yanes Bashar,
Armand Jean Pierre,
Cvitkovic Esteban
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0347(199701)19:1<41::aid-hed8>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - medicine , mucositis , leukopenia , fluorouracil , nasopharyngeal carcinoma , gastroenterology , population , palliative care , bone marrow suppression , surgery , radiation therapy , toxicity , chemotherapy , oncology , nursing , environmental health
Background Low‐dose protracted continuous infusion (CI) 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU), as proposed by Lokich et al, has been reported to be active and well tolerated in colorectal and breast cancers. We initiated a phase II trial with CI 5‐FU in heavily pretreated undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharyngeal type (UCNT) patients in February 1989. Methods Twenty‐one UCNT patients with recurrent and/or metastatic disease were treated with CI 5‐FU (300 mg/m 2 ) for 6 consecutive weeks. Treatment was to be continued until disease progression. Results Toxicity was mild. Diarrhea and mucositis (WHO grade 2 or greater) were seen in 4 (20%) and 6 patients (30%), respectively. Myelosuppression was infrequent, with only one patient with bone marrow invasion, experiencing grade 3 leukopenia. Two complete and 3 partial responses were obtained in 20 evaluable patients (ORR:25%). The median time to progression was 4 months (range 2–14); the median survival for the whole population was 10 months (avg 2–41). Conclusion This appears to be a useful palliative treatment for heavily pretreated UCNT patients. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Head Neck 19 : 41–47, 1997.