title: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy of irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin in patients with advanced rectal cancer. Report of two cases.
abstract: We report on two patients with T3N1 rectal cancer treated with a combination of irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. On days 1, 8 and 15 of this 4-week cycle, leucovorin (250 mg/m2) was administered in a 2-hour intravenous infusion, followed by 5-fluorouracil (500 mg/m2) in a 10-min intravenous bolus, and then irinotecan (80 mg/m2) in a 90-min intravenous infusion. During the chemotherapy, no grade 3-4 toxicities were observed. Two weeks after the completion of 2 cycles of this regimen, both patients underwent surgery without postoperative complications. The responses were one pathological and one macroscopic complete response. Both patients with T3 tumors were down-staged to pT0 and pT2, respectively. As for the N stage, both patients were down-staged to pN0. The combination of irinotecan/5-fluorouracil/leucovorin appears to be feasible and effective, and to have a potential as an optimal neoadjuvant therapy in patients with advanced rectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan. hasegawa@sc.itc.keio.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hirotoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshinare
authors.forename: Makio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mukai
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kitajima
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D000077146:Irinotecan; D002955:Leucovorin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012007:Rectum / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000077146:Irinotecan; D002955:Leucovorin; D005472:Fluorouracil; D002166:Camptothecin