Hepatic arterial infusion of 5-fluorouracil for patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer refractory to standard systemic chemotherapy: a multicenter, retrospective analysis.

Introduction: This retrospective study evaluated the safety and efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer refractory to standard systemic chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Fifty-five patients who had shown disease progression during the prior standard systemic chemotherapy with oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and 5-FU were enrolled. The treatment was weekly HAIC with 5-FU 1000 mg/m2/5 hours through an indwelling catheter-port system.

Results: No major adverse reaction was observed other than grade 3 leukocytopenia (3.6%) and hyperbilirubinemia (1.8%). The overall response rate and disease control rate were 18.2% and 70.9%, respectively. The median progression-free survival and median overall survival (OS) were 2.8 months, and 6.7 months, respectively. The initial sites of disease progression were liver in 14, other than liver in 27, and both in 6. Multivariate analysis identified Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) ≤ 1 and number of extrahepatic metastatic sites (NMS) ≤ 1 as favorable prognostic factors for OS (hazard ratio [HR], 8.277; 95% CI, 3.60-19.0; P = .000 for ECOG PS; and HR, 2.456; 95% CI, 1.30-4.61; P = .005 for NMS).

Conclusion: HAIC with 5-FU may be a safe and effective treatment for patients with colorectal liver metastases refractory to standard systemic chemotherapy.