Salvage treatment with single-agent capecitabine in patients with heavily pretreated advanced colorectal cancer.

Background: Refractory and/or relapsing advanced colorectal cancer (ACRC) requires frequent and prolonged hospitalisations, with a negative impact on the patients' quality of life (QoL). The aim of this single-centre, phase II study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of capecitabine (C) as salvage therapy in patients (pts) with ACRC, heavily pretreated with various chemotherapeutic regimens, as well as radiotherapy.

Patients And Methods: A total of 28 pts were enrolled, with the following characteristics: 16 male and 12 female, median age 60 years (36-70) and median ECOG PS 1 (0-2).

Acute myopathy in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma treated with gemcitabine and docetaxel.

An extremely rare case of acute inflammatory myopathy during combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and docetaxel for advanced non-small cell lung cancer in a 57-year-old diabetic male patient is reported. Despite the early clinical partial response of the underlying malignancy to the chemotherapeutic regimen, the patient developed symmetrical, painful, proximal muscle weakness in the lower limbs with peripheral edema after the administration of the fourth cycle of treatment. The syndrome regressed definitely after the discontinuation of chemotherapy and the administration of corticosteroids.