Two patients with recurrent colon cancer who underwent surgery following a combination of irinotecan and UFT

One patient with pulmonary metastasis from colon cancer and one with para-aortic lymph node metastasis were treated with a combination of irinotecan and UFT. Irinotecan (100 mg/m2) was given by 24-hour intravenous infusion on day 1, and UFT (600 mg/day) was given orally on days 3 to 7 and days 10 to 14 of a 2-week course, which was then repeated. In the patient with pulmonary metastasis, the lesions in the lung resolved after 7 courses of chemotherapy. Surgery was performed after 10 courses. The patient with para-aortic lymph node metastasis had a partial response after 4 courses of chemotherapy, and underwent surgery after 6 courses. The only adverse effects were grade 2 myelosuppression and hair loss, none of which were severe enough to require treatment. With this chemotherapy regimen, patients are admitted for two days biweekly for 24-hour intravenous infusion of CPT-11. Thus, most of the treatment can be performed on an outpatient basis. The combination of irinotecan and UFT is expected to be useful for metastatic or recurrent colon cancer.