Phase II study of MGI-114 administered intravenously for 5 days every 28 days to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

We examined the use of MGI-114 (6-hydroxymethyacylfulvene) for the treatment of patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma. Twenty-six patients were enrolled, with a median age of 60 years (range 41-75); 64% were male and all patients had a performance status of 0 or 1. We administered a dose of 11 mg/m2/d x 5 days every 4 weeks. With a median of two cycles (range 0-6) administered, no complete responses or partial responses were observed. Four patients had no change in disease (16%); 15 patients (57%) had progressive disease; seven patients were inevaluable (27%). Toxicity was evaluated in 25 of 26 patients. The main toxicities were hematologic, including granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia. Neuropsychiatric adverse events included hallucination (7.7%), depression/anxiety (15.4%), and/or insomnia (19.2%). Given the lack of antitumor activity, further study of MGI-114 in colorectal cancer does not appear warranted.