The efficacy of oral tegafur-uracil as maintenance therapy following intravenous 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy in stage III colon cancer

Kwang Dae Hong, Sun Il Lee, Hong Young Moon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact on disease-free survival (DFS) of adding oral tegafur-uracil (UFT) to intravenous 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as surgical adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II and III colon cancer. Methodology: The authors retrospectively analyzed 148 patients treated from 2000 through 2005 with pathologically confirmed stage II or III colon cancer. Forty seven patients were treated with 6 cycles of 5-FU+leucovorin (5-FU group) and the other 101 patients were treated with same above regimen followed by an additional 12 cycles of UFT+leucovorin (LV) for 28 days with a 7-day rest period (5-FU+UFT group). Results: The median follow-up time was 64.9 months (range 15.3-95.2 months) and mean age was 58.8±10.8. The clinical characteristics of the 5-FU+UFT and 5-FU groups were similar. Furthermore, for all study subjects and stage II patients, 3-year DFS rates were not significantly different between two groups. However, for stage III patients, 3-year DFS rates were 80.0% and 60.7% in the 5-FU+UFT and 5-FU groups, respectively (HR=0.32; p=0.01; 95% CI=0.13-0.76). Conclusions: The addition of UFT to 5-FU was found that significantly improve DFS in patients with stage III colon cancer. The authors cautiously suggest UFT as a maintenance therapy following 5-FU chemotherapy could be another option in stage III colon cancer patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)104-107
Number of pages4
JournalHepato-gastroenterology
Volume59
Issue number113
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012 Jan
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adjuvant chemotherapy
  • Colon cancer
  • Fluorouracil
  • Tegafur-uracil

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hepatology
  • Gastroenterology

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