Background:
For advanced colorectal carcinoma, 5-fluorouracil (5-fu)-leucovorin is the best therapy available. to improve results, a variety of drugs were added, including cisplatin (cddp), sometimes with controversial results. the combination of cddp and etoposide (vp-16) has shown synergistic activity in other settings. although vp-16 alone is considered rather inactive in colorectal carcinoma, the authors believed it was appropriate to evaluate the combination of vp-16 and carboplatin (cbdca) in this disease because the newer platinum analogue cbdca has more limited side effects than the parent compound.
Methods:
Twenty-eight patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma were treated with cbdca (200 mg/m2, days 1-3) and vp-16 (100 mg/m2, days 1-5). cycles were repeated every 4 weeks. all patients received at least two cycles (median, six cycles; range, two to eight cycles).
Results:
There were three complete responses and four partial responses. the median duration of response was 35 weeks (range, 25-84 weeks). the median time to tumor progression was 23 weeks (range, 9-84 weeks). the median survival time was 49 weeks (range, 9-151+ weeks). toxic effects generally were assessed as mild, with no grade 4 (eastern cooperative oncology group classification) toxic effects observed during this study.
Conclusions:
Response rate and toxic effects observed during this study warrant additional studies comparing this regimen with 5-fu-based regimens in advanced colorectal carcinoma.