FOLFIRI with or without celecoxib in advanced colorectal cancer: a randomized phase II study of the Gruppo Oncologico dell'Italia Meridionale (GOIM)

Background The aim of the study was to verify the efficacy and safety of the addition of celecoxib to FOLFIRI combination therapy in patients affected by advanced colorectal cancer. Patients and methods Eighty-one chemotherapy-naive patients entered in this randomized phase II trial of the GOIM (protocol no. 2301). Patients were randomized to receive FOLFIRI regimen (arm A): irinotecan 180 mg/m2 on day 1 with LV5FU2 regimen (LV at 100 mg/m2 administered as a 2-h infusion before FU at 400 mg/m2 as an intravenous bolus injection, and FU at 600 mg/m2 as a 22-h infusion immediately after 5-FU bolus injection on day 1 and 2); or FOLFIRI plus celecoxib 400 mg twice daily for 14 days (arm B). Both…