TY - JOUR TI - Etoposide, leucovorin (LV) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in 5-FU+LV pre-treated patients with advanced colorectal cancer AU - Tsavaris, N AU - Kosmas, C AU - Gennatas, K AU - Vadiaka, M AU - Skopelitis, AU - E AU - Xila, V AU - Rokana, S AU - Margaris, E AU - Zografos, G and AU - Papastratis, G AU - Kouraklis, G JO - Journal of Chemotherapy PY - 2002 VL - 14 TODO - 4 SP - 406-411 PB - TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD LONDON SN - 1120-009X, 1973-9478 TODO - 10.1179/joc.2002.14.4.406 TODO - colorectal cancer; 5-fluorouracil; leucovorin; etoposide; oxaliplatin; irinotecan TODO - In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of the weekly combination of etoposide, leucovorin (LV) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) when administered as second-line chemotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory advanced colorectal cancer (ACC), previously treated with weekly LV+5-FU. Etoposide was administered at 3 different dose levels (DLs), in 3 groups of 20 patients each (total: 60); DL-I: etoposide 80 mg/m(2), DL-II: etoposide 120 mg/m(2), and DL-III: etoposide 180 mg/m(2), in 45 min i.v. infusion, and followed in all levels by LV 100 mg/m(2) i.V. over 1 hour and 5-FU 500 mg/m(2) i.v. bolus. Treatment was administered weekly until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. No patients at DL-I responded, while 2 patients at DL-II and 3 at DL-III had a partial response (PR). Stable disease (SD) rates were as follows; at DL-I: 2, DL-II: 8 and DL-III: 9. More patients in DL-I progressed (n=19) compared to DL-II (n=10) and DL-III (n=8) (p<0.0007). Time to progression was for DL-I, -II, -III: 17, 15, and 14 weeks, respectively. Median survival was DL-I, -II, -III: 30, 30, and 32.5 weeks, respectively. Toxicity consisted mainly of neutropenia, diarrhea and mucositis at all DLs, and was significantly more severe in DL-III. No difference was noted in responses between DL-II and DL-III. The authors conclude that the combination of etoposide with LV+5-FU has limited activity when administered after failure of weekly LV+5-FU in patients with ACC and should not be recommended for further evaluation. ER -