Irinotecan in combination with new agents

摘要

Today, irinotecan in combination with bolus and/or infusional 5-FU/FA constitutes a standard first-line treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. In an attempt to further improve clinical outcome, the use of irinotecan in combination with novel, targeted agents has been investigated. The theoretical attraction of combining irinotecan with targeted therapies is that this can improve the efficacy of treatment, but, due to the mainly non-overlapping toxicities of the agents involved, the toxicity of treatment should not be exacerbated. In this article we discuss recent data from clinical studies looking at the combinations of irinotecan with the 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) pro-drug, capecitabine, the cyclo-oxygenase (COX-2) inhibitor, celecoxib, and monoclonal antibodies against the epidermal growth factor receptor (cetuximab) and vascular endothelial growth factor (bevacizumab).