Treating Side Effects of FOLFIRINOX--A Study of the Effect of Hange-Shashin-To on Preventing Diarrhea

• Published in: Gan to kagaku ryoho Vol. 42; no. 12; p. 2364
• Main Authors: Hoshi, Nobuhiro, Kofunato, Yasuhide, Yashima, Rei, Shimura, Tatsuo, Takenoshita, Seiichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan 01-11-2015
• Subjects: Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Diarrhea - chemically induced; Diarrhea - prevention & control; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Female; Glucuronosyltransferase - genetics; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Pancreatic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Pancreatic Neoplasms - pathology; Polymorphism, Genetic; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 0385-0684

FOLFIRINOX is an effective therapy for unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer. However, FOLFIRINOX has side effects of blood and gastrointestinal toxicity. Diarrhea, one of the side effects of CPT-11, sometimes becomes serious. We studied whether Hange-shashin-to could prevent diarrhea caused by CPT-11.
Seven patients who were diagnosed with unresectable pancreatic cancer, either Stage Ⅳor recurrent disease, were enrolled. They took 2.5 g of Hange-shashin-to before each meal starting one day before FOLFIRINOX, and continued taking it for one week. We examined the occurrence of diarrhea by using CTCAE retrospectively.
The median age was 61 years. The median number of chemotherapy courses was 4. The frequency of diarrhea was lower, compared to the results of ACCORD11 trial and the domestic phaseⅡ clinical trials. In addition, Grade 3 or more serious diarrhea was not observed, even in the patients with genetic polymorphisms of UGT1A1.
The incidence of diarrhea in patients treated with Hange-shashin-to in our department was lower compared to the ACCORD11 trial and domestic phase Ⅱ clinical trials. Hange-shashin-to is useful to allay the severity of diarrhea caused by CPT-11 in FOLFIRINOX therapy.