Clinical pharmacological studies on 5-FU treatment for advanced gastro-intestinal carcinomas.

The authors summarize clinical studies on 5-FU treatment for advanced disseminated colonic, rectal and pancreas cancers. The advantage of pushing intravenous (I.V.) injections slowly to avoid pain and using peristalt pumps for I.V. infusion are pointed out. Since the renal toxicity of 5-FU is minimal, higher doses may be envisaged which could give better results. Studies are in progress to try to determine a model for 5-FU kinetics.