Capecitabine Maintenance Therapy after First-Line Chemotherapy in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of capecitabine maintenance therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. Methods: From June 2001 to November 2006, after they had achieved clinical response from first-line chemotherapy, patients with mCRC in our hospital received two different treatment strategies. Thirty-three patients in maintenance group were treated with capecitabine 1000 mg/m(2) po bid d1-14, q21d. Fifty-two patients in non-maintenance group did not receive any further chemotherapy. Results: Patients in maintenance group and non-maintenance group both received FOLFOX, FOLFIRI and XELOX as first-line therapy. The median chemotherapy cycles the two groups received were the same (6 vs 6). The response rates of first-line chemotherapy were 33.3% in maintenance group and 32.7% in non-maintenance group. Patients in maintenance group received 3-9 cycles of capecitabine therapy (median cycle 4). 29/33 (87.9%) patients in maintenance group and 47/52 (90.4%) in non-maintenance group received following second-line chemotherapy, and no patients underwent targeted therapy. The median survival time and TTP were 40.4 months (95%CI: 24.2-56.6) and 9.0 months (95%CI: 6.7-11.3) in maintenance group, as compared with 21.5 months (95%CI: 14.9-28.0, P=0.015) and 6.5 months (95%CI: 4.4-8.5, P=0.007) in non-maintenance group. No severe adverse event was observed in the capecitabine maintenance group. Conclusion: mCRC patients could benefit from capecitabine maintenance therapy by prolonging survival time and TTP.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000288439100003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701OncologySCI(E)中国科技核心期刊(ISTIC)中国科学引文数据库(CSCD)4ARTICLE3181-1852