RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. PURPOSE: Phase I trial to study the effectiveness of gemcitabine given as a continuous infusion in treating patients who have advanced metastatic cancer.
OBJECTIVES: * Determine the maximum tolerated dose of continuous infusion gemcitabine in patients with metastatic malignancies. * Determine the toxicity profile of this drug in these patients. OUTLINE: This is a dose-escalation study. Patients on dose levels 1-5 receive gemcitabine IV continuously over 72 hours on week 1. Patients on dose levels 6 and 7 receive gemcitabine IV continuously over 72 hours on weeks 1-3. Courses repeat every 2 weeks (for patients on dose levels 1-5) and every 4 weeks (for patients on dose levels 6 and 7) in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Cohorts of 3-6 patients receive escalating doses of gemcitabine until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined. The MTD is defined as the dose preceding that at which 3 of 6 patients experience dose-limiting toxicity. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 27 patients will be accrued for this study.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Purpose
TREATMENT
Lutheran General Cancer Care Center
Park Ridge, Illinois, United States
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