Treatment of colorectal cancer and other malignancies with continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil.

Twenty-six consecutive patients with gastrointestinal and other epithelial origin neoplasms were treated with continuous intravenous infusion of 5-Fluorouracil using a portable pump. Out of twenty-four evaluable patients, four achieved complete remission, four a partial response while in twelve patients the disease remained stable. The overall response rate was 33%. Twenty out of the 24 patients achieved significant improvement in their performance status and quality of life. The median survival was 9.5 months. The two more frequently observed toxicities were stomatitis (19.5%) and hand-foot syndrome (15.3%). Our study shows that long-term continuous infusion of 5-Fluorouracil is of palliative value in patients with gastrointestinal and other neoplasma of epithelial origin. The use of portable pumps makes this a practical and cost effective outpatient form of treatment.