title: Irinotecan plus carboplatin for patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site.
abstract: Carcinoma of unknown primary site (CUP) is rarely encountered in clinical practice and optimal chemotherapy has not yet been established. This phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of combined irinotecan+carboplatin therapy in chemotherapy-naive patients with CUP. Irinotecan was administered at 60 mg m(-2) as a 90-min intravenous infusion on days 1, 8 and 15. Carboplatin was administered at an area-under-the curve of 5 mg ml(-1) min as a 60-min intravenous infusion on day 1. This cycle was repeated every 28 days for up to six cycles. Forty-five patients were enrolled in the study. An intent-to-treat analysis revealed an objective response rate to the treatment of 41.9% (95% confidence interval, 27.0-57.9%). The median time to progression was 4.8 months and the median survival was 12.2 months. The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 44 and 27%, respectively. The most frequent grade 3 or more severe adverse events were leukopaenia (21%), neutropaenia (33%), anaemia (25%) and thrombocytopaenia (20%). Thus, the combination of irinotecan plus carboplatin was found to be active in patients with CUP. Therefore, the regimen may be one of the potentially available chemotherapeutic options for community standard of care in patients with a good performance status.
authors.affiliation: Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. kyonemor@ncc.go.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yonemori
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yunokawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kouno
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katsumata
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirakawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arioka
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D016190:Carboplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000077146:Irinotecan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009382:Neoplasms, Unknown Primary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D000077146:Irinotecan; D016190:Carboplatin; D002166:Camptothecin