title: Clinical efficacy of oxaliplatin monotherapy: phase II trials in advanced colorectal cancer.
abstract: For the past 40 years, the mainstay of chemotherapy against colorectal cancer has been 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), often administered in recent years with folinic acid modulation. Traditional platinum derivatives have generally been ineffective in colorectal cancer therapy; however, the third-generation 1,2-diaminocyclohexane-platinum derivative oxaliplatin has shown good antitumor activity and a lack of cross-reactivity with cisplatin. Oddly, oxaliplatin was first developed as a combination therapy with 5-FU plus folinic acid administered as a chronomodulated infusion over 5 days. In subsequent phase II clinical trials, the activity of single-agent oxaliplatin was assessed in 63 previously untreated patients and 139 patients with metastatic disease refractory to 5-FU. In first-line therapy, the median overall survival was approximately 13 to 14 months, whereas in previously treated patients no longer responding to 5-FU, it was 8 to 10 months. The 18% objective response rate obtained with first-line therapy confirms that the activity of single-agent oxaliplatin is comparable to other anticancer therapies considered active against colorectal cancer. The 10% response rate obtained in second-line therapy in patients refractory to 5-FU provides a means for palliative care and suggests the possibility for a potentially active combination regimen with 5-FU.
authors.affiliation: Centre Régional de Lutte Contre le Cancer, Institut Bergonié, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Becouarn
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rougier
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077150:Oxaliplatin
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009944:Organoplatinum Compounds; D000077150:Oxaliplatin; D002945:Cisplatin