Infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in solid tumors

Background: 5-FU is an important anticancer agent for many tumor entities. Because of the historical development of this compound it was predominantly administered as a bolus application, although it was well known that the a ntineoplastic activity of this antimetabolite is improved by prolonged admi nistration schedules (protracted infusion ["infusional"] of 5-FU). Since po rt-a-cath systems and portable pumps became available, "infusional" 5-FU co ntaining chemotherapies were intensively investigated in various tumors kno wn to be susceptible to 5-FU. Indications: The largest experience with "infusional" 5-FU +/- folinic acid +/- other cytostatic drugs exists in gastrointestinal tumors. Meanwhile th is way of. 5-FU application is well established in the first- and second-li ne chemotherapy of metastatic colorectal and gastric cancer where it contri butes to a clinically relevant improvement of the prognosis of these tumors . Other tumor entities where "infusional" 5-FU-based chemotherapies showed first positive results are i.e. breast cancer and esophageal cancers.