Abstract:

Objective  To compare the clinical efficacy of irinotecan plus raltitrexed and irinotecan plus 5-FU（FOLFIRI） in the second-line treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Methods A total of 60 patients with advanced colorectal cancer were enrolled after first-line chemotherapy failure. They were divided into observation group（irinotecan plus raltitrexed） and control group （FOLFIRI），30 patients in each group. The clinical efficacy and adverse reaction，over survival （OS） and time to progresion （TTP） were observed. Results There was no significant difference in the response rate between the observation group and the control group（26.67% vs 13.33%，χ²=1.67，P=0.20）. The disease control rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group，and the difference was statistically significant （ 63.33% vs 36.67%，χ²=4.27，P=0.04）. The median OS and median TTP in the observation group were longer than those in the control group （9.9 months vs 7.5 months， χ²=4.461，P=0.012；5.5 months vs 3.7 months， χ²=6.735，P=0.022）. The gastrointestinal advese reactions between the two groups were not significantly different （P>0.05）. Conclusions Irinotecan combined with raltitrexed as the second line treatment showed satisfactory efficacy and safety to treat the  patients with advanced colorectal cancer. It can prolong survival and reduce adverse reactions compared with FOLFIRI，and it is worthy of clinical application.