Oral adjuvant chemotherapy with carmofur (HCFU) for colorectal cancer: five-year follow-up. Tokai HCFU Study Group--third study on colorectal cancer.
BACKGROUND
A joint study was performed by the Tokai HCFU study group, which included seven institutions, to examine the value of oral administration of Carmofur (HCFU), a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) derivative, for postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer undergoing curative resection.


METHODS
The patients were divided into two groups, a control group receiving no HCFU and a group administered HCFU for 1 year, using a centralized registration system by telephone. Among 173 patients entered into this study, 159 evaluable cases were analyzed for evaluation of the drug.


RESULTS
The cumulative 5-year disease-free rate of patients who received HCFU was significantly increased compared with the control group. In particular, the rate was much higher in patients with colon cancer. No severe side effects arose from adjuvant chemotherapy with HCFU.


CONCLUSIONS
Adjuvant chemotherapy with oral HCFU appears to provide a useful and safe postoperative treatment.
Second Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Japan.
K
K
Ito
A
A
Yamaguchi
K
K
Miura
T
T
Kato
S
S
Baba
S
S
Matsumoto
M
M
Ishii
H
H
Takagi
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C017367:carmofur; D005472:Fluorouracil