Complete response of highly advanced colon cancer with multiple lymph node metastases to irinotecan combined with UFT: report of a case

Surg Today. 2006;36(12):1133-8. doi: 10.1007/s00595-006-3315-5. Epub 2006 Dec 25.

Abstract

Massive lymph node metastasis of the para-aortic region and supraclavicular lymph nodes, Virchow's lymph node metastasis due to colon cancer, is extremely rare. We herein report a case of such systemic lymph node metastasis that was successfully treated with a combination of irinotecan (CPT-11) and UFT, a combination drug of tegafur and uracil. The patient was a 57-year-old woman who had a tumor in the ascending colon, and massively swollen para-aortic and supraclavicular lymph node metastasis. She was treated with combination chemotherapy of CPT-11 and UFT. The main tumor was detected as a decompressed scar, and the supraclavicular and para-aortic lymph nodes had completely disappeared after the second cycle of treatment. A histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry with cytokeratin showed complete remission of adenocarcinoma in the tumor and para-aortic lymph nodes. She remains alive without recurrence 52 months after chemotherapy. Combination chemotherapy of CPT-11 and UFT may be of potential value in the treatment of advanced colorectal carcinoma, and both histopathological and immunohistochemical confirmation of a complete remission may indicate prolonged disease-free survival.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnosis
  • Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy*
  • Adenocarcinoma / secondary
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Camptothecin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Camptothecin / therapeutic use
  • Colonic Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Colonic Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Colonoscopy
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Irinotecan
  • Lymphatic Metastasis
  • Middle Aged
  • Prodrugs
  • Tegafur / administration & dosage
  • Tegafur / therapeutic use
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Uracil / administration & dosage
  • Uracil / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Prodrugs
  • Tegafur
  • Uracil
  • Irinotecan
  • Camptothecin

Supplementary concepts

  • 1-UFT protocol