TEGAFIRI is an effective alternative regimen for the management of recurrent or metastatic colorectal cancer

At present, the global incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing, with numerous individuals succumbing to the disease. The standard treatment strategy for colorectal cancer is curative resection. However, a cure is rarely achieved for metastatic colorectal cancer. Currently, chemotherapy is the main treatment for metastatic and recurrent colorectal cancer. The majority of metastases or recurrences have been found to respond well to chemotherapy. The present study evaluated the response rates of recurrent or metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with a combination chemotherapy of irinotecan and oral uracil-tegafur (UFUR). In the pilot study, 33 patients with metastatic or recurrent colorectal cancer were treated with different regimens of irinotecan and UFUR with or without leucovorin; however, irinotecan (150 mg/m2 every two weeks) with continuous UFUR and leucovorin without interruption resulted in improved survival compared with the other regimens evaluated and, thus, was employed for the present study of 113 patients. The patients that received irinotecan with UFUR and leucovorin without interruption exhibited similar efficacy in terms of overall survival and response rate to that of the pilot study. In addition, the incidences of diarrhea, alopecia and hematologic toxicity were acceptable, which was in agreement with the results of the pilot study. Therefore, combination chemotherapy with irinotecan, oral UFUR and leucovorin appears to be a satisfactory treatment strategy for recurrent or metastatic colorectal cancer.