Adriamycin, CCNU, and 5-fluorouracil in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer.

Forty-one patients with measurable advanced gastrointestinal malignancy were treated with a combination of Adriamycin (doxorubicin), 5-FU (5-fluorouracil), and CCNU (1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea). The response to therapy was evaluated every eight weeks. In addition to standard clinical examinations and laboratory tests to evaluate toxicity, 31 patients were asked to rank both the expected and experienced negative effects of the treatment. Although both patients with hepatocellular cancer and the patient with a soft tissue sarcoma responded to the regimen, only 1 of 38 patients with adenocarcinoma had a favourable response. The clinically measurable toxicity, principally to the gastrointestinal tract and bone marrow, was relatively mild. However, the patients' subjective evaluation of their treatment made the side effects appear more significant. The results suggest that this regimen deserves further evaluation in patients with hepatocellular cancer and soft tissue sarcomas.