title: The efficacy of oral tegafur-uracil as maintenance therapy following intravenous 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy in stage III colon cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang Dae
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Sun Il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hong Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Moon
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000368:Aged; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003082:Colectomy; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D005641:Tegafur / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014498:Uracil / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D004338:Drug Combinations; C096910:UFT(R) drug; D005641:Tegafur; D014498:Uracil; D005472:Fluorouracil