A phase II study of the combination, 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) and N-(phosphonacetyl)-L-aspartate (PALA), in patients with advanced large bowel cancer.

A phase II study of BCNU and PALA was undertaken in advanced large bowel carcinoma. Thirty patients with advanced metastatic colorectal carcinoma were treated with the combination BCNU (200 mg/m2) every 6 weeks, and PALA (5.0 g/m2) every 3 weeks. Fifteen patients had received no prior chemotherapy and 15 had been previously treated with one or more cytotoxic agents. Only one patient met the criteria for a partial response, and this response was of only 3 months' duration. It would seem unlikely that the combination of BCNU and PALA holds the potential of response greater than BCNU alone and that further trials of this treatment regimen for this tumor type seem unwarranted.