R-PR's Irinotecan And Colorectal Cancer

Rhone-Poulenc Rorer's new anticancer agent irinotecan (also known as CPT-11) is an effective treatment for patients with advanced colorectal cancer, according to a study presented at the 5th International Congress on Anticancer Chemotherapy in Paris, France, on February 1.

The trial included 213 patients with advanced colorectal cancer, including some who had not received previous chemotherapy and some who had failed treatment with at least one chemotherapeutic regimen based on 5-fluorouracil. All patients received an intravenous infusion of 350mg/m2 of irinotecan every three weeks.

Out of the 156 evaluable patients, four exhibited a complete response, and 28 (18%) had a partial response (defined as a greater than 50% reduction in measurable tumor size). The median time to response was 9.1 months, ranging from 1.6 and 17 months. The data is consistent with previous published studies of the drug in colorectal cancer patients (Marketletter December 19, 1994). Colorectal cancer is the second most common type of cancer in the west, and 140,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in Europe. Around 50% of these cases are treated by surgical intervention, and those patients who have inoperable disease receive anticancer chemotherapy.