European journal of cancer : official journal for European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) [and] European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
-
The efficacy of CPT-11 (Campto, irinotecan) given as a single agent has been assessed in three phase II clinical studies of patients with advanced colorectal cancer conducted in Japan, Europe and the U. S. Among a total of 337 evaluable patients treated with CPT-11 in dosage schedules of 100-150 mg/m2 weekly or bi-weekly (Japan, n = 63; U. ⋯ CPT-11, therefore, has significant activity in advanced colorectal cancer with response rates that are reproducible, durable and comparable to those achieved with 5-FU plus folinic acid in the first-line treatment of metastatic disease. Further work is needed to define the optimum dosage schedule for CPT-11 and also to assess fully the utility of CPT-11 in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents. Nevertheless, the activity of CPT-11 in patients refractory to treatment with 5-FU may be considered a significant advance, making it the first effective second-line agent in this setting.