Capecitabine monotherapy as salvage treatment after failure of chemotherapy containing oxaliplatin and irinotecan in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Aim: There has been limited data on capecitabine monotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who were previously treated with both oxaliplatin/5‐fluorouracil(FU)/leucovorin (FOLFOX) and irinotecan/5‐FU/leucovorin (FOLFIRI). Methods: We analyzed 20 patients between August 2002 and March 2008 with metastatic CRC who had been treated with capecitabine monotherapy after the failure of FOLFOX and FOLFIRI. Results: Overall, one partial response was observed (overall response rate, 5%) and stable disease was observed in 11 patients (55.0%). The disease control rate was 60.0%. The median progression‐free survival (PFS) was 2.3 months (95% CI 1.9–2.7) and the median overall survival (OS) was 5.3 months (95% CI 4.6–6.0). Patients without ascites had longer PFS than those with ascites (P = 0.02). Patients with more than three metastatic sites had poorer OS than those with less than two (P = 0.01). Grade 3 or 4 non‐hematological toxicities included hand–foot syndrome in one patient. There were no grade 3 or 4 hematological toxicities or treatment‐related deaths. Conclusion: The capecitabine monotherapy had a moderate disease control rate and a tolerable toxicity profile as third‐line or fourth‐line treatment for metastatic CRC patients who were refractory to standard chemotherapy with no further treatment options.