"Misura" project: a retrospective survey on the use of 5fluorouracil in the treatment of colorectal cancer in 24 Italian clinical centers.

The "Misura" project is a retrospective survey, with the aim to evaluate how 5FU is used in the treatment of colorectal cancer in clinical practice in Italian oncology departments. Twenty-four centers participated. Patients seen in the second half of 1998 with colorectal cancer and treated with 5FU were analyzed. Observed patients were 664, 45.9% of patients presented metastatic disease. Biochemical modulation with folinic acid and bolus 5FU was the most used schedule (59%). The De Gramont (LV 5FU2) regimen, alone or with other cytotoxic drugs, was the second most chosen schedule (14%). The most frequent side effect observed was gastrointestinal toxicity. No hematological toxicity was demonstrated in 68.8% of patients. Cutaneous toxicity occurred in 21.1% of patients. 5FU is widely used independently by the stage of disease. In palliative treatment a variety of schedules were administered by the Italian centers, lacking a standard therapy. There are very few surveys investigating oncology clinical practice. A larger survey on this issue is auspicable.