[A case of unresectable rectal cancer with liver and pulmonary metastases that responded remarkably to pharmacokinetic modulating chemotherapy].
We treated a patient with unresectable rectal cancer with multiple liver, pulmonary and lymph node metastases that responded remarkably to pharmacokinetic modulating chemotherapy (PMC). The patient was a 63-year-old male. Colonoscopy showed a type 3 advanced lower rectal cancer. Examinations by computed tomography and chest X-ray revealed unresectable rectal cancer invading the sacrum and bladder with multiple liver and pulmonary metastases and swollen para-aortic lymph nodes. The patient was treated by colostomy and postoperative PMC. UFT (400 mg/day) was orally administered daily and a continuous infusion of 5-FU (1,000 mg/24 h) was given once a week. After 10 courses of treatment with PMC, the primary lesion was remarkably reduced. This chemotherapy also produced partial responses in the pulmonary metastases and para-aortic lymph node swelling. The patient experienced few side effects and had good QOL in the terminal stage. This chemotherapy regimen appears to be an effective and promising therapy with few side effects, even for patients with unresectable advanced colorectal cancer.