Studies: New Chemotherapy Treatment Offers Safety Benefits

Two studies have concluded that a newer chemotherapy treatment for patients with advanced colorectal cancer does not appear to slow disease progression, but does appear to offer significant safety benefits over the current standard chemotherapy regimen.

European researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on a study of 380 patients who were treated either with Uracil/Ftorafur (UFT) plus high-dose leucovorin (LV) or the standard chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil plus LV.

They reported that the oral UFT/LV treatment failed to improve time to disease progression, but provided "significant safety improvements" over the standard therapy.

Another group of U.S. and European researchers reported in the same journal on a study of 816 patients who received the two treatments.

They reported that the UFT/LV treatment produced significantly less frequent diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and fewer infections.

"UFT/LV provided a safer, more convenient oral alternative to a standard 5-FU/LV regimen for metastatic colorectal cancer while producing equivalent survival," these researchers concluded.

Other Sources: Journal of Clinical Oncology