title: Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy or BCG for colon cancer: results from NSABP protocol C-01.
abstract: Data are presented from 1,166 patients with Dukes B and C carcinoma of the colon who were entered into the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Protocol C-01 between November 1977 and February 1983. Patients were randomized to one of three therapeutic categories: 1) no further treatment following curative resection (394 patients); 2) postoperative chemotherapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil, semustine, and vincristine (379 patients); or 3) postoperative BCG (393 patients). The average time on study was 77.3 months. A comparison between patients receiving postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and those treated with surgery alone indicated that there was an overall improvement in disease-free survival (P = .02) and survival (P = .05) in favor of the chemotherapy-treated group. At 5 years of follow-up, patients treated with surgery alone were at 1.29 times the risk of developing a treatment failure and at 1.31 times the likelihood of dying as were similar patients treated with combination adjuvant chemotherapy. Comparison of the BCG-treated group with the group treated with surgery alone indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in disease-free survival (P = .09). There was, however, a survival advantage in favor of the BCG-treated group (P = .03). At 5 years of follow-up, patients randomized to the surgery-alone arm were at 1.28 times the risk of dying as were similar patients treated with BCG. Further investigation disclosed that this survival advantage in favor of BCG was a result of a diminution in deaths that were non-cancer related. When analyses were conducted on which events not related to cancer recurrence were eliminated, the survival difference between the BCG and control groups became nonsignificant (P = .40); the cumulative odds at 5 years decreased from 1.28 to 1.10. The findings from this study are the first from a randomized prospective clinical trial to demonstrate that a significant disease-free survival and survival benefit can be achieved with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with Dukes B and C carcinoma of the colon who have undergone curative resection.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, PA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wolmark
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rockette
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Redmond
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Wickerham
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lawrence
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D011897:Random Allocation; D012673:Semustine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D001500:BCG Vaccine; D012673:Semustine; D014750:Vincristine; D005472:Fluorouracil