PALLIATIVE TREATMENT WITH LOW-DOSE CONTINUOUS-INFUSION 5-FLUOROURACILIN RECURRENT AND OR METASTATIC UNDIFFERENTIATED NASOPHARYNGEAL CARCINOMA TYPE/

Background. Low-dose protracted continuous infusion (CI) 5-fluorouraci l (5-FU), as proposed by Lokich et al, has been reported to be active and well tolerated in colorectal and breast cancers. We initiated a ph ase II trial with CI 5-FU in heavily pretreated undifferentiated carci noma of the nasopharyngeal type (UCNT) patients in February 1989. Meth ods. Twenty-one UCNT patients with recurrent and/or metastatic disease were treated with CI 5-FU (300 mg/m(2)) for 6 consecutive weeks. Trea tment was to be continued until disease progression. Results. Toxicity was mild. Diarrhea and mucositis (WHO grade 2 or greater) were seen i n 4 (20%) and 6 patients (30%), respectively. Myelosuppression was inf requent, with only one patient with bone marrow invasion, experiencing grade 3 leukopenia. Two complete and 3 partial responses were obtaine d in 20 evaluable patients (ORR:25%). The median time to progression w as 4 months (range 2-14); the median survival for the whole population was IO months (avg 2-41). Conclusion. This appears to be a useful pal liative treatment for heavily pretreated UCNT patients. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.