Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Effect of capecitabine combined with irinotecan on the safety of colon cancer treatment, patients’ adverse reactions and quality of life

Mingjuan Fan, Qing Li, Weijie Zhong, Shuang He, Kangbao Li

Department of Geriatric Medicine, Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510180, China;

For correspondence:- Kangbao Li Email: kn3cpv@163.com

Accepted: 18 October 2021 Published: 30 November 2021

Citation: Fan M, Li Q, Zhong W, He S, Li K. Effect of capecitabine combined with irinotecan on the safety of colon cancer treatment, patients’ adverse reactions and quality of life. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(11):2413-2418 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i11.25

© 2021 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To study the impact of the combination of capecitabine and irinotecan on the safety of colon cancer treatment, adverse reactions and wellbeing of patients.

Methods: Colon cancer subjects (n =120) admitted to Guangzhou First People’s Hospital, Guangzhou, China were assigned equally to two groups (A and B) according to their order of admission, and they received intravenous infusion of irinotecan. In addition, group A patients were administered capecitabine, but those in B group were given tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil porassium. The patients in groups A and B were compared with respect to the incidence of unwanted effects, quality of life (QoL), and overall clinical efficacy of the treatments.

Results: Cases of nausea and vomiting, delayed diarrhea and sensory neuropathy of the patients were significantly reduced in group A, relative to group B. Moreover, QoL score after treatment was markedly higher in group A than in group B, while the objective response rate (ORR) of colon cancer patients in group A was also significantly higher than that in group B (p < 0.05). However, no obvious difference in disease control rate (DCR) was observed between groups A and B (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Combined capecitabine and irinotecan therapy effectively improves clinical prognosis, reduces the incidence of adverse reactions, and is safe in colon cancer patients. Therefore, the combined treatment may be beneficial in the management of colon cancer.

Keywords: Capecitabine, Irinotecan, Adverse reactions, Quality of life (QoL), Colon cancer