Efficacy of oral UFT as adjuvant chemotherapy to curative resection of colorectal cancer: multicenter prospective randomized trial

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy using uracil and tegafur (UFT) for colorectal cancer. Methods: In a multicenter trial among 43 institutions for patients who underwent curative resection of Dukes’ B or C colorectal cancer, a surgery alone group (control group) and a treatment group (UFT group) to which UFT was administered at 400 mg/day for 2 years following surgery were compared. A total of 320 patients were registered between March 1991 and April 1994, and 289 of these patients were analyzed as a full-analysis set. Results: The 5-year disease-free survival rate was 75.7% in the UFT group and 60.1% in the control group, respectively, and the stratified log-rank test showed the statistical significance (P=0.0081). This difference was marked in rectal cancer (P=0.0016) and, in particular, the local recurrence was reduced. No significant difference was observed in the 5-year survival rate. The incidence of adverse reactions on administration of UFT was low, and there was no serious adverse reaction. Conclusion: It is suggested that the consecutive administration of UFT at 400 mg/day was an effective and highly safe therapeutic method as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for rectal cancer.