A trial of individual dose intensity and relative performance factors in tegafur maintenance chemotherapy for head and neck cancer.
Tegafur (Sunfural-S), as masked compound of a 5-fluorouracil derivative, was administered orally as a maintenance chemotherapeutic agent at a dose of 600 mg/day in 98 cases of head and neck epithelial cancer. The effectiveness of the drug was evaluated by a statistical method involving two formulae: individual dose intensity (IDI) and relative performance (RP). When comparing patients rated above a reference IDI value of 1.0 with those rated below 1.0, it was not possible to predict patient survival or tumor-free rates. In contrast, the value of the RP did show such a correlation. These findings support the effectiveness of Tegafur as a maintenance chemotherapeutic treatment for head and neck cancer patients.
Sawaki
S
S
Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Japan.
Watanabe
H
H
Shin
T
T
Kubota
T
T
Komiyama
S
S
Umezaki
T
T
Nahm
I
I
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate; D005641:Tegafur / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D005641:Tegafur