title: Uracil/tegafur as a possible salvage therapy in chemo-refractory colorectal cancer patients: a single institutional retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to determine the activity and toxicity of uracil/tegafur and leucovorin combination in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients who have progressed with all currently active agents.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a retrospective analysis of 50 mCRC patients who had previously failed to respond to all available chemotherapeutics and who received subsequent treatment with uracil/tegafur 250 mg/m(2) d1-5 in combination with leucovorin 90 mg/day, d1-5 followed by two days' rest.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age of the patients was 60 years. Most of them (60%) were male. Bevacizumab was used in 65% and cetuximab in 55% of the patients. Thirty-nine patients (78%) were treated with uracil/tegafur in the fourth line setting. The median treatment duration was 4.2 months (range, 2-24 months). The objective response rate and the disease control rate were 4% and 34%, respectively. Median progression-free survival was 4.1 months (95% CI, 3.6-4.6 months) and overall survival was 6.6 months (95% CI, 4.5-8.6 months). Grade 3 or 4 toxicity was seen in 20% (n = 10) of the patients while 60% (n = 6) of them required dose reductions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This retrospective data show that uracil/tegafur may be considered in heavily pretreated mCRC patients because of its activity, lower toxicity, and feasibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: İbrahim V
authors.initials: İV
authors.lastname: Bayoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Umut
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Varol
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Suna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cokmert
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alacacıoğlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yuksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kucukzeybek
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akyol
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Lutfiye
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dirican
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk, Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Oktay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tarhan
keywords: heavily pretreated; metastatic colorectal cancer; salvage therapy; uracil/tegafur