• E Aranda, M Valladares, M Martinez-Villacampa, M Benavides, A Gomez, B Massutti, E Marcuello, M Constenla, J C Cámara, A Carrato, R Dueñas, M Reboredo, M Navarro, and E Díaz-Rubio.
• Medical Oncology Service, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Córdoba, Spain. earandaa@seom.org
• Ann. Oncol. 2009 Feb 1; 20 (2): 251-7.

BackgroundIrinotecan plus infusional 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (FOLFIRI) is accepted as a reference treatment for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC). The aim of this study was to demonstrate that a regimen without leucovorin (LV) (FUIRI) is not inferior to the standard FOLFIRI (response rate).Patients And MethodsChemotherapy-naive patients with MCRC were randomized to receive either irinotecan (180 mg/m(2) on day 1) + 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (400 mg/m(2) bolus and 600 mg/m(2) 22-h infusion) + LV (200 mg/m(2) on days 1-2) (FOLFIRI) every 2 weeks or irinotecan (80 mg/m(2)) + 5-FU (2.250 mg/m(2) 48-h infusion) (FUIRI) weekly.ResultsIn all, 346 patients were included, 173 in each arm. In the intention-to-treat analysis, the response rates for FOLFIRI and FUIRI were 57% [95% confidence interval (CI) 49% to 64%] and 51% (95% CI 43% to 59%), respectively (P = 0.2809). No statistically significant differences were observed between FOLFIRI and FUIRI regarding median progression-free survival (8.3 versus 8.4 months; P = 0.4339) nor median overall survival (21.6 versus 19.2 months; log-rank test P = 0.2941). Grade 3/4 neutropenia was significantly more frequent on FOLFIRI arm (27% versus 9%), while the proportion of diarrhea was higher on FUIRI arm (21% versus 42%).ConclusionFUIRI represents a valid alternative without LV to the FOLFIRI regimen as MCRC first-line treatment.

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