Abstract
Purpose
Oxaliplatin has in vitro activity similar to or higher than other platinum agents. Preclinically, gemcitabine has demonstrated synergy when combined with platinum compounds. These facts formed the rationale for determining the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of gemcitabine in combination with oxaliplatin.
Methods
Eligible patients with advanced incurable solid tumors were given oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 as a 2-h infusion on day 1 followed by escalating doses of gemcitabine given over 30 min on day 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle.
Results
A total of 43 patients were enrolled, including 30 patients at the MTD in an expanded cohort. At a gemcitabine dose of 800 mg/m2, 1/6 patients had a dose limiting toxicity (DLT) (grade 3 blurred vision and memory loss). At 1,000 mg/m2, 1/6 patients had a DLT (grade 3 increase in AST). At 1,200 mg/m2, 2/3 patients had a DLT (grade 4 thrombocytopenia and grade 3 confusion). The MTD of gemcitabine with 130 mg/m2 of oxaliplatin was therefore 1,000 mg/m2. The clearances of gemcitabine and ultrafilterable platinum are within the ranges previously reported for single agents. A patient with colon cancer had a partial response, and 21 patients had a best response of stable disease. In patients with tumor biopsies treated at the MTD, decreased ribonucleotide reductase M2 expression correlated with response.
Conclusion
Treatment with gemcitabine and oxaliplatin was well tolerated with primarily hematologic toxicity at the MTD. Study of biochemical correlates of response remain of interest althought current results remain exploratory.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00280-006-0297-3/MediaObjects/280_2006_297_Fig1_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00280-006-0297-3/MediaObjects/280_2006_297_Fig2_HTML.gif)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbruzzese JL, Grunewald R, Weeks EA, Gravel D, Adams T, Nowak B, Mineishi S, Tarassoff P, Satterlee W, Raber MN et al (1991) A phase I clinical, plasma, and cellular pharmacology study of gemcitabine. J Clin Oncol 9:491–498
Aebi S, Kurdi-Haidar B, Gordon R, Cenni B, Zheng H, Fink D, Christen RD, Boland CR, Koi M, Fishel R, Howell SB (1996) Loss of DNA mismatch repair in acquired resistance to cisplatin. Cancer Res 56:3087–3090
Alberts SR, Townley PM, Goldberg RM, Cha SS, Moore DF Jr, Krook JE, Pitot HC, Fitch TR, Wiesenfeld M, Mailliard JA, Sargent DJ (2002) Gemcitabine and oxaliplatin for patients with advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer: a North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) phase I study. Ann Oncol 13:553–557
Alberts SR, Townley PM, Goldberg RM, Cha SS, Sargent DJ, Moore DF, Krook JE, Pitot HC, Fitch TR, Wiesenfeld M, Mailliard JA (2003) Gemcitabine and oxaliplatin for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a North Central Cancer Treatment Group phase II study. Ann Oncol 14:580–585
Andre T, Boni C, Mounedji-Boudiaf L, Navarro M, Tabernero J, Hickish T, Topham C, Zaninelli M, Clingan P, Bridgewater J, Tabah-Fisch I, de Gramont A (2004) Oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin as adjuvant treatment for colon cancer. N Engl J Med 350:2343–2351
Andre T, Tournigand C, Rosmorduc O, Provent S, Maindrault-Goebel F, Avenin D, Selle F, Paye F, Hannoun L, Houry S, Gayet B, Lotz JP, de Gramont A, Louvet C (2004) Gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin (GEMOX) in advanced biliary tract adenocarcinoma: a GERCOR study. Ann Oncol 15:1339–1343
Bepler G, Sharma S, Cantor A, Gautam A, Haura E, Simon G, Sharma A, Sommers E, Robinson L (2004) RRM1 and PTEN as prognostic parameters for overall and disease-free survival in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 22:1878–1885
Bergman AM, Ruiz v HV, Veerman G, Kuiper CM, Peters GJ (1996) Synergistic interaction between cisplatin and gemcitabine in vitro. Clin Cancer Res 2:521–530
Bidoli P, Stani SC, Mariani L, De Candis D, Cortinovis D, Aglione S, Zilembo N, Toffolatti L, Formisano B, Bajetta E (2004) Phase I study of escalating doses of oxaliplatin in combination with fixed dose gemcitabine in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer 43:203–208
Cassidy J, Misset JL (2002) Oxaliplatin-related side effects: characteristics and management. Semin Oncol (Suppl 15) 29:11–20
Chollet P, Bensmaine MA, Brienza S, Deloche C, Cure H, Caillet H, Cvitkovic E (1996) Single agent activity of oxaliplatin in heavily pretreated advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. Ann Oncol 7:1065–1070
Colucci G, Giuliani F, Gebbia V, Biglietto M, Rabitti P, Uomo G, Cigolari S, Testa A, Maiello E, Lopez M (2002) Gemcitabine alone or with cisplatin for the treatment of patients with locally advanced and/or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma: a prospective, randomized phase III study of the Gruppo Oncologia dell’Italia Meridionale. Cancer 94:902–910
Doroshow J, Tetef M, Margolin K, Somlo G, Frankel P, Longmate J, Synold T, Gandara D, Lenz HJ, Albain K (2000) Significant activity of gemcitabine and cisplatin in both heavily and minimally-pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients: a California Cancer Consortium/Loyola University Chicago Trial Proc ASCO 19:155a
Doroshow JH, Synold TW, Gandara D, Mani S, Remick SC, Mulkerin D, Hamilton A, Sharma S, Ramanathan RK, Lenz HJ, Graham M, Longmate J, Takimoto CH, Ivy P (2003) Pharmacology of oxaliplatin in solid tumor patients with hepatic dysfunction: a preliminary report of the National Cancer Institute Organ Dysfunction Working Group. Semin Oncol Aug (Suppl 15) 30:14–19
Duenas-Gonzalez A, Lopez-Graniel C, Gonzalez A, Gomez E, Rivera L, Mohar A, Chanona G, Trejo-Becerril C, de la GJ (2003) Induction chemotherapy with gemcitabine and oxaliplatin for locally advanced cervical carcinoma. Am J Clin Oncol 26:22–25
Ellis RE (1961) The distribution of active bone marrow in the adult. Phys Med Biol 5:255–258
Faivre S, Kalla S, Cvitkovic E, Bourdon O, Hauteville D, Dourte LM, Bensmaine M A, Itzhaki M, Marty M, Extra JM (1999) Oxaliplatin and paclitaxel combination in patients with platinum-pretreated ovarian carcinoma: an investigator-originated compassionate-use experience. Ann Oncol 10:1125–1128
Faivre S, Le Chevalier T, Monnerat C, Lokiec F, Novello S, Taieb J, Pautier P, Lhomme C, Ruffie P, Kayitalire L, Armand JP, Raymond E (2002) Phase I-II and pharmacokinetic study of gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and ovarian carcinoma. Ann Oncol 13:1479–1489
Faivre S, Raymond E, Woynarowski JM, Cvitkovic E (1999) Supraadditive effect of 2′, 2′-difluorodeoxycytidine (gemcitabine) in combination with oxaliplatin in human cancer cell lines. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 44:117–123
Fink D, Nebel S, Aebi S, Zheng H, Cenni B, Nehme A, Christen RD, Howell SB (1996) The role of DNA mismatch repair in platinum drug resistance. Cancer Res 56:4881–4886
Fink D, Zheng H, Nebel S, Norris PS, Aebi S, Lin TP, Nehme A, Christen RD, Haas M, MacLeod CL, Howell SB (1997) In vitro and in vivo resistance to cisplatin in cells that have lost DNA mismatch repair. Cancer Res 57:1841–1845
Franciosi V, Barbieri R, Aitini E, Vasini G, Cacciani GC, Capra R, Camisa R, Cascinu S (2003) Gemcitabine and oxaliplatin: a safe and active regimen in poor prognosis advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. Lung Cancer 41:101–106
Freeman KB, Anliker S, Hamilton M, Osborne D, Dhahir PH, Nelson R, Allerheiligen SR (1995) Validated assays for the determination of gemcitabine in human plasma and urine using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. J Chromatogr B Biomed Appl 665:171–181
Garufi C, Nistico C, Brienza S, Vaccaro A, D’Ottavio A, Zappala AR, Aschelter AM, Terzoli E (2001) Single-agent oxaliplatin in pretreated advanced breast cancer patients: a phase II study. Ann Oncol 12:179–182
Goan YG, Zhou B, Hu E, Mi S, Yen Y (1999) Overexpression of ribonucleotide reductase as a mechanism of resistance to 2, 2-difluorodeoxycytidine in the human KB cancer cell line. Cancer Res 59:4204–4207
Goldberg RM, Sargent DJ, Morton RF, Fuchs CS, Ramanathan RK, Williamson SK, Findlay BP, Pitot HC, Alberts SR (2004) A randomized controlled trial of fluorouracil plus leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin combinations in patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer. J Clin Oncol 22:23–30
Graham MA, Lockwood GF, Greenslade D, Brienza S, Bayssas M, Gamelin E, (2000) Clinical pharmacokinetics of oxaliplatin: a critical review. Clin Cancer Res 6:1205–1218
Juhasz A, Frankel P, Cheng C, Rivera H, Vishwanath R, Chiu A, Margolin K, Yen Y, Newman EM, Synold T, Wilczynski S, Lenz HJ, Gandara D, Albain KS, Longmate J, Doroshow JH (2003) Quantification of chemotherapeutic target gene mRNA expression in human breast cancer biopsies: comparison of real-time reverse transcription-PCR vs. relative quantification reverse transcription-PCR utilizing DNA sequencer analysis of PCR products. J Clin Lab Anal 17:184–194
Kidani Y, Noji M, Tashiro T (1980) Antitumor activity of platinum(II) complexes of 1,2-diamino-cyclohexane isomers. Gann 71:637–643
Louvet C, Labianca R, Hammel P, Lledo G, Zampino MG, Andre T, Zaniboni A, Ducreux M, Aitini E, Taieb J, Faroux R, Lepere C, de Gramont A (2005) Gemcitabine in combination with oxaliplatin compared with gemcitabine alone in locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer: results of a GERCOR and GISCAD phase III trial. J Clin Oncol 23:3509–3516
Mamenta EL, Poma EE, Kaufmann WK, Delmastro DA, Grady HL, Chaney SG (1994) Enhanced replicative bypass of platinum-DNA adducts in cisplatin-resistant human ovarian carcinoma cell lines. Cancer Res 54:3500–3505
Mavroudis D, Pappas P, Kouroussis C, Kakolyris S, Agelaki S, Kalbakis K, Androulakis N, Souglakos J, Vardakis N, Nikolaidou M, Samonis G, Marselos M, Georgoulias V (2003) A dose-escalation and pharmacokinetic study of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin in patients with advanced solid tumors. Ann Oncol 14:304–312
Monnet I, Brienza S, Hugret F, Voisin S, Gastiaburu J, Saltiel JC, Soulie P, Armand JP, Cvitkovic E, de Cremoux H (1998) Phase II study of oxaliplatin in poor-prognosis non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) ATTIT Association pour le Traitement des Tumeurs Intra Thoraciques. Eur J Cancer 34:1124–1127
Pavlakis N, Bell DR, Millward MJ, Levi JA (1997) Fatal pulmonary toxicity resulting from treatment with gemcitabine. Cancer 80:286–291
Pectasides D, Pectasides M, Farmakis D, Aravantinos G, Nikolaou M, Koumpou M, Gaglia A, Kostopoulou V, Mylonakis N, Skarlos D (2004) Gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX) in patients with cisplatin-refractory germ cell tumors: a phase II study. Ann Oncol 15:493–497
Pendyala L, Kidani Y, Perez R, Wilkes J, Bernacki RJ, Creaven PJ (1995) Cytotoxicity, cellular accumulation and DNA binding of oxaliplatin isomers. Cancer Lett. 97:177–184
Plunkett W, Huang P, Searcy CE, Gandhi V (1996) Gemcitabine: preclinical pharmacology and mechanisms of action. Semin.Oncol (Suppl 10) 23:3–15
Porta C, Zimatore M, Imarisio I, Natalizi A, Sartore-Bianchi A, Danova M, Riccardi A (2004) Gemcitabine and oxaliplatin in the treatment of patients with immunotherapy-resistant advanced renal cell carcinoma: final results of a single-institution Phase II study. Cancer 100:2132–2138
Poplin E, Levy E, Berlin M, Rothenberg M, Cella D, Mitchell E, Alberts S, and Benson III A. A phase III trial of gemcitabine (30-min infusion) versus gemcitabine (fixed-dose-rate infusion [FDR]) versus gemcitabine + oxaliplatin (GEMOX) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Proc ASCO 24, No 18s aLBA4004
Raspagliesi F, Zanaboni F, Vecchione F, Hanozet F, Scollo P, Ditto A, Grijuela B, Fontanelli R, Solima E, Spatti G, Scibilia G, Kusamura S (2004) Gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin (GEMOX) as second-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer refractory or resistant to platinum and taxane. Oncology 67:376–381
Raymond E, Faivre S, Woynarowski JM, Chaney SG (1998) Oxaliplatin: mechanism of action and antineoplastic activity. Semin Oncol (Suppl 5) 25:4–12
Rixe O, Ortuzar W, Alvarez M, Parker R, Reed E, Paull K, Fojo T (1996) Oxaliplatin, tetraplatin, cisplatin, and carboplatin: spectrum of activity in drug-resistant cell lines and in the cell lines of the National Cancer Institute’s Anticancer Drug Screen panel. Biochem.Pharmacol 52:1855–1865
Rosell R, Danenberg KD, Alberola V, Bepler G, Sanchez JJ, Camps C, Provencio M, Isla D, Taron M, Diz P, Artal A (2004) Ribonucleotide reductase messenger RNA expression and survival in gemcitabine/cisplatin-treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. Clin Cancer Res 10:1318–1325
Rothenberg ML, Oza AM, Bigelow RH, Berlin JD, Marshall JL, Ramanathan RK, Hart LL, Gupta S, Garay CA, Burger BG, Le Bail N, Haller DG (2003) Superiority of oxaliplatin and fluorouracil-leucovorin compared with either therapy alone in patients with progressive colorectal cancer after irinotecan and fluorouracil-leucovorin: interim results of a phase III trial. J Clin Oncol 21:2059–2069
Sandler AB, Nemunaitis J, Denham C, von Pawel J, Cormier Y, Gatzemeier U, Mattson K, Manegold C, Palmer MC, Gregor A, Nguyen B, Niyikiza C, Einhorn LH (2000) Phase III trial of gemcitabine plus cisplatin versus cisplatin alone in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 18:122–130
Schmidt W, Chaney SG (1993) Role of carrier ligand in platinum resistance of human carcinoma cell lines. Cancer Res 53:799–805
Schutte W, Blankenburg T, Lauerwald K, Schreiber J, Bork I, Wollscgkaeger B, Treutler D, Schneider CP, Bonner R (2003) A multicenter phase II study of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Clin Lung Cancer 4:294–297
Soulie P, Bensmaine A, Garrino C, Chollet P, Brain E, Fereres M, Jasmin C, Musset M, Misset JL, Cvitkovic E (1997) Oxaliplatin/cisplatin (L-OHP/CDDP) combination in heavily pretreated ovarian cancer. Eur J Cancer 33:1400–1406
Takimoto CH, Remick SC, Sharma S, Mani S, Ramanathan RK, Doroshow J, Hamilton A, Mulkerin D, Graham M, Lockwood GF, Ivy P, Egorin M, Schuler B, Greenslade D, Goetz A, Knight R, Thomas R, Monahan BP, Dahut W, Grem JL (2003) Dose-escalating and pharmacological study of oxaliplatin in adult cancer patients with impaired renal function: a National Cancer Institute Organ Dysfunction Working Group Study. J Clin Oncol 21:2664–2672
Vaisman A, Varchenko M, Umar A, Kunkel TA, Risinger JI, Barrett JC, Hamilton TC, Chaney SG (1998) The role of hMLH1, hMSH3, and hMSH6 defects in cisplatin and oxaliplatin resistance: correlation with replicative bypass of platinum-DNA adducts. Cancer Res 58:3579–3585
van Moorsel CJ, Pinedo HM, Veerman G, Bergman AM, Kuiper CM, Vermorken JB, van der Vijgh WJ, Peters GJ (1999) Mechanisms of synergism between cisplatin and gemcitabine in ovarian and non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines. Br J Cancer 80:981–990
Venook AP, Egorin MJ, Rosner GL, Hollis D, Mani S, Hawkins M, Byrd J, Hohl R, Budman D, Meropol NJ, Ratain MJ (2000) Phase I and pharmacokinetic trial of gemcitabine in patients with hepatic or renal dysfunction: Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9565. J Clin Oncol 18:2780–2787
von der Maase H, Hansen SW, Roberts JT, Dogliotti L, Oliver T, Moore MJ, Bodrogi I, Albers P, Knuth A, Lippert CM, Kerbrat P, Sanchez RP, Wersall P, Cleall SP, Roychowdhury DF, Tomlin I, Visseren-Grul CM, Conte PF (2000) Gemcitabine and cisplatin versus methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin in advanced or metastatic bladder cancer: results of a large, randomized, multinational, multicenter, phase III study. J Clin Oncol 18:3068–3077
Woynarowski JM, Chapman WG, Napier C, Herzig MC, Juniewicz P (1998) Sequence- and region- specificity of oxaliplatin adducts in naked and cellular DNA. Mol Pharmacol 54:770–777
Zhou BS, Ker R, Ho R, Yu J, Zhao YR, Shih J, Yen Y (1998) Determination of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate pool sizes in ribonucleotide reductase cDNA transfected human KB cells. Biochem.Pharmacol 55:1657–1665
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This study was supported by National Cancer Institute grants U01 CA62505 and P30 CA33572.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shibata, S., Chow, W., Frankel, P. et al. A phase I study of oxaliplatin in combination with gemcitabine: correlation of clinical outcome with gene expression. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 59, 549–557 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-006-0297-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-006-0297-3