title: A Phase II Study of Additional Four-Week Chemotherapy With Capecitabine During the Resting Periods After Six-Week Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Patients With Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of additional 4-week chemotherapy with capecitabine during the resting periods after a 6-week neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Radiotherapy was delivered to the whole pelvis at a total dose of 50.4 Gy for 6 weeks. Oral capecitabine was administered at a dose of 825 mg/m(2) twice daily for 10 weeks. Surgery was performed 2-4 weeks following the completion of chemotherapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between January 2010 and September 2011, 44 patients were enrolled. Forty-three patients underwent surgery, and 41 patients completed the scheduled treatment. Pathologic complete remission (pCR) was noted in 9 patients (20.9%). T down-staging and N down-staging were observed in 32 patients (74.4%) and 33 patients (76.7%), respectively. Grade 3 to 5 toxicity was noted in 5 patients (11.4%). The pCR rate was similar with the pCR rates obtained after conventional NCRT at our institute and at other institutes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that additional 4-week chemotherapy with capecitabine during the resting periods after 6-week NCRT was safe, but it was no more effective than conventional NCRT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejoen, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Ha
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min Sang
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jun Boem
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jin Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dae Young
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ji Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Capecitabine; Chemoradiotherapy; Neoadjuvant therapy; Rectal neoplasms