A phase II trial of salvage treatment with gemcitabine and S-1 combination in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Abstract

488 Background: We conducted a phase II trial of gemcitabine with S-1 to evaluate the activity and toxicity of such a combination in heavily pre-treated patients (pts) with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who have progressed after treatment with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), oxaliplatin and irinotecan. Methods: 34 pts were enrolled, with the following characteristics: 17 (50%) females, median age 57 years (28-72), 28 (82%) ECOG PS 0-1. S-1 was given orally (30 mg/m2) b.i.d for 14 consecutive days and gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2) was given on days 1 and 8, every 21 days, until disease progression and for a maximum of 9 cycles. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Results: The median number of cycles was four (range 1-9). ORR was 14.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.8-26.6) and disease control rate was 58.8% (95% CI 42.2-75.3) with five partial responses and fifteen stable diseases. Median duration of disease control was 5.1 months (95% CI 3.3-7.0). Median progression-free survival was 3.2 months (95% CI 2.3-4.1) and median overall survival was 11.8 months (95% CI 7.0-16.5). Grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia (12%), anemia (12%), thrombocytopenia (3%) and diarrhea (3%). Conclusions: Combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and S-1 was well tolerated and efficacious for heavily pre-treated mCRC pts, and could be an alternative for pts with good PS but no further treatment options.