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| |  DG DISPATCH - ASCO MEETING: Breast Cancer Drug Works In Colon By Robert Carlson Special to DG News ATLANTA, GA -- May 19, 1999 -- A drug approved for use against advanced breast cancer is also showing efficacy against colon cancer. Hoffman-LaRoche’s Xeloda (capecitabine) is an oral drug derived from 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a standard intravenous chemotherapy agent. Reports at this meeting in 1998 showed its advantages in women with advanced breast cancer, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved capecitabine in 1998 as an option for women with metastatic breast cancer who fail anthracycline-and taxane-based chemotherapy. Reports on Xeloda at this year's 35th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology pertained primarily to colorectal disease. Two of the reports, representing experience with 1,200 patients around the world, showed that treatment in colorectal cancer was associated with better overall survival and fewer treatment-related side effects. "These data demonstrate that Xeloda may be an important new option for the treatment of colorectal cancer," said principal investigator Dr. Chris Twelves, consultant in the Cancer Research Campaign, department of oncology, Beatson Oncology Center, Glasgow, Scotland. He reported here that Xeloda was at least as effective as a standard 5-FU regimen (the Mayo regimen) against colorectal cancer, but far more convenient because of its oral formulation. Patients taking Xeloda reported fewer instances of stomatitis, a serious adverse event seen with 5-FU. But the Xeloda patients also reported more hand-foot syndrome. Significant hair loss, a distressing side effect of some chemotherapy regimens, was not seen with Xeloda.
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