Pharmacokinetics of Anticancer Drugs Used in Treatment of Older Adults With Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review

Purpose: Older adults with cancer experience more toxicity from anticancer therapy, possibly because of age-related changes in the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of anticancer drugs. We aimed to evaluate studies investigating the effect of aging on the PK of anticancer therapies used in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: A systematic literature search of EMBASE and PubMed was performed to find eligible studies that assessed the effect of age on the PK of anticancer therapies used in the treatment of CRC. Results: The 21 eligible studies included 17 prospective studies and 4 pooled analyses of prospective studies. Of these, PK of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was determined in 7 studies, oxaliplatin in 2 studies, capecitabine in 3 studies, irinotecan in 4 studies, bevacizumab in 1 study, cetuximab in 3 studies, and panitumumab in 1 study. Studies included a median of 44 patients and had varying definitions for older adults: 65 years or older (3 studies), older than 70 years (3 studies), or older than 75 years (1 study). Increasing age significantly affected the PK parameters of irinotecan with a 7%–8% reduction in CL (P
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Focus Series: TDM in Oncology Source Type: research