PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - MERCEDES SALGADO
AU  - MARGARITA REBOREDO
AU  - JUAN CARLOS MENDEZ
AU  - GUILLERMO QUINTERO
AU  - MARÍA LUZ PELLÓN
AU  - CARLOS ROMERO
AU  - MÓNICA JORGE
AU  - ANA FERNÁNDEZ MONTES
AU  - MANUEL VALLADARES-AYERBES
AU  - MANUEL RAMOS
AU  - SILVIA VARELA
AU  - MIGUEL ÁNGEL ALONSO
AU  - ON BEHALF OF GRUPO GALLEGO DE INVESTIGACIONES ONCOLÓGICAS
TI  - Gemcitabine and Capecitabine as Third- or Later-line Therapy for Refractory Advanced Colorectal Cancer: A Retrospective Study
DP  - 2013 Sep 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 4089--4096
VI  - 33
IP  - 9
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/33/9/4089.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/33/9/4089.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2013 Sep 01; 33
AB  - Aim: To evaluate gemcitabine plus capecitabine as third-line or later-line therapy in patients with refractory advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) who maintain a good performance status (PS). Patients and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated patients who had failed at least two lines of therapy or had contraindication to standard therapy and received gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m2, d1 biweekly) plus capecitabine (1,700 mg/m2/day, d1-7 every two weeks) in a compassionate use program. Results: Thirty-nine patients were enrolled. The majority (85%) had ECOG PS 1. Gemcitabine plus capecitabine was administered as third- and fourth-line in 49% and 23% of patients, respectively; and as fifth-line or later-line in 28%. A clinical benefit of 21% was found. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 3.0 and 7.3 months, respectively. Toxicity was mild to moderate, with no reported grade 4 toxicities. Conclusion: Gemcitabine plus capecitabine was safe and well-tolerated. While the efficacy of this regimen was modest in terms of response, the survival data were acceptable and consistent with previous publications on this setting.