title: Evidence produced in Japan: tegafur-based preparations for postoperative chemotherapy in breast cancer.
abstract: Oral fluoropyrimidine anticancer agents (oral 5-fluorouracil [5-FU]) able to be used as chemotherapy for breast cancer include tegafur-uracil (UFT), tegafur-gimeracil-oteracil potassium (S-1), doxifluridine, and capecitabine. Since the 1980s, UFT has been most widely used for postoperative chemotherapy in breast cancer. UFT is an oral preparation that was designed to achieve and maintain high concentrations of 5-FU in plasma by combining tegafur, a prodrug of 5-FU, with uracil. UFT is characterized by mild adverse events, allowing long-term treatment. The prolonged maintenance of high plasma 5-FU concentrations has been suggested to inhibit micrometastases after surgery. Recently, large clinical trials conducted in Japan have shown that UFT-based postoperative chemotherapy is therapeutically useful in patients with node-negative (n0), high-risk breast cancer. We review the results of clinical trials of postoperative chemotherapy with UFT in Japan and discuss its roles and future prospects.
authors: Department of Medicine, Hamamatsu Oncology Center, 3-6-13 Chuo, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 430-0929, Japan, twatanab@oncoloplan.com.
authors: Toru
authors: T
authors: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011182:Postoperative Care; D005641:Tegafur / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014498:Uracil / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D005641:Tegafur; D014498:Uracil