Oxaliplatin combined to 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid: an effective therapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Patients with colorectal carcinoma progressing after a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-containing regimen were eligible. One treatment cycle consisted of repeated administrations of 5-FU combined to folinic acid for six times and to oxaliplatin for three times over 50 days. 5-FU was given at the dose of 2.6 g/m2 as a continuous infusion over 24 h on days 1, 8, 22, 29 and 43 preceded by i.v. folinic acid (FA) at a dose of 500 mg/m2 over 1 h. Oxaliplatin was given 1 h after 5-FU at the dose of 130 mg/m2 over a 2 h infusion on days 1, 22 and 43. A total of 37 patients were treated according to this schedule. The rates of objective responses after the first and second treatment cycles were 28 and 17%, respectively, with rates of tumor growth control, i.e. including the stabilizations, of 55 and 28%. The median duration of response was 10 months and the median duration of stabilizations was 6 months. The median survival time from initiation of oxaliplatin-containing therapy is 10 months (2-28+). The median survival time from the diagnosis of metastatic disease is 24 months (2-40+). The main toxicities were leucopenia, diarrhea, fatigue and paresthesias. The combination of 5-FU/FA/oxaliplatin was well tolerated and appears as a meaningful therapy after failure of a previous 5-FU-containing treatment.