Breast Cancer Pill May Be Alternative for Advanced, Metastatic Colon Cancer

Researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston say a breast cancer pill, Xeloda (capecitabine), offers patients a much less toxic, more convenient, home-based therapy for advanced, metastatic colon cancer with a better side effect profile than the standard therapy.

Traditional therapy for advanced colon cancer is intravenous treatment with 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin, given in a hospital setting.

"We think for patients to be able to take a medication at home, not have to come back and forth to a chemotherapy treatment area, not have to have IV injections, is an advantage," said Dr. Robert Wolff, assistant professor of gastrointestinal oncology at M.D. Anderson and co-author of the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Survival time was about the same with both treatments, said the researchers. Median survival time with Xeloda was about 12.5 months compared to 13.3 months with IV treatment.

According to the study, patients experienced a much lower incidence of nausea, hair loss and fever, symptoms common with the IV therapy. Fewer patients taking Xeloda needed to be hospitalized for adverse reactions than those patients taking the IV regimen.

"The encouraging results of this trial give physicians additional latitude in recommending to each patient the optimal course of treatment. It is especially important to remember that this oral drug was found to be equal to, not superior to, the intravenous chemotherapy regimen of F-5U plus leucovorin," said Wolff. "While the oral drug is much more convenient for patients and produces fewer side effects, this treatment depends on the patient's willingness and ability to take the pills as prescribed."

Xeloda, manufactured by Hoffman La Roche, is already approved for treatment of breast cancer. Although the drug is not approved for the treatment of colon cancer, physicians can prescribe it "off-label."

Other sources: Journal of Clinical Oncology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, ABC