Phase I/II Study of Radiologic Hepatic Arterial Infusion of Fluorouracil Plus Systemic Irinotecan for Unresectable Hepatic Metastases from Colorectal Cancer: Japan Clinical Oncology Group Trial 0208-DI

Purpose: Treatment of patients who have metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) by using a combination of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) and systemic chemotherapy has resulted in promising clinical outcomes. Additionally, image-guided HAIC is reported to be less invasive and distribute drugs more accurately than surgical HAIC. The purpose of this study was to assess the combination of linage-guided delivery of fluorouracil through HAIC and systemic irinotecan in a multicenter phase I/II study. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five patients with unresectable liver metastases from CRC were fined with hepatic arterial catheter and port systems by using image-guided methods. Intraarterial fluorouracil (1,000 mg/m(2)) was administered on days 1, 8, and 15 of each treatment cycle. The dose of systemic irinotecan on days 1 and 15 was escalated from 75 mg/m(2). Results: No dose-limiting toxicity was encountered during phase I, and the recommended dose of irinotecan was set at 150 mg/m(2). Grade 3 or higher adverse events included hyperglycemia (15%), elevated gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase levels (15%), and neutropenia (9%). The response rate and median survival time were 72% and 49.8 months (95% CI, 27.5-78.1 mo), respectively. Conclusions: The combination of image-guided delivery of fluorouracil through HAIC and systemic irinotecan yielded favorable safety, response rate, and survival results. This combination should be evaluated in a large study.