Background: The treatment of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (rmCRC) and the lack of predictive variables are matters of debate.
Patients and methods: We conducted a multicentre phase II trial assessing the disease control rate (DCR) of the combination of tegafur/uracil and mitomycin C in rmCRC. The number of previous lines of chemotherapy, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels, progression-free survival of the last chemotherapy regimen (PPFS), and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio at the time of study entry were evaluated as indicators of early progression.
Results: We enrolled 42 patients. The combination was well tolerated with a DCR of 26.2% and median overall survival of 6.9 months. Low CEA levels, PPFS >6 months and low NLR were significantly associated with better prognosis.
Conclusion: The study failed its primary endpoint. However, some putative indicators of early progressive patients have been described.
Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Mitomycin C; Predictive markers; UFT.