Capecitabine as Adjuvant Treatment for Stage III Colon Cancer

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 352; no. 26; pp. 2696 - 2704
• Main Authors: Twelves, Chris, Wong, Alfred, Nowacki, Marek P, Abt, Markus, Burris, Howard, Carrato, Alfredo, Cassidy, Jim, Cervantes, Andrés, Fagerberg, Jan, Georgoulias, Vassilis, Husseini, Fares, Jodrell, Duncan, Koralewski, Piotr, Kröning, Hendrik, Maroun, Jean, Marschner, Norbert, McKendrick, Joseph, Pawlicki, Marek, Rosso, Riccardo, Schüller, Johannes, Seitz, Jean-François, Stabuc, Borut, Tujakowski, Jerzy, Van Hazel, Guy, Zaluski, Jerzy, Scheithauer, Werner
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 30.06.2005
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - adverse effects; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Capecitabine; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Colonic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Colonic Neoplasms - mortality; Colonic Neoplasms - surgery; Colorectal cancer; Deoxycytidine - adverse effects; Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives; Deoxycytidine - therapeutic use; Disease-Free Survival; Drug therapy; Effectiveness; Female; Fluorouracil - analogs & derivatives; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; General aspects; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Neoplasm Staging; Patients; Prescription drugs; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Survival Analysis; Tumors; Antineoplastic agent; Medicine; Colon cancer; Capecitabine; Fluoropyrimidine derivatives; Adjuvant treatment; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Malignant tumor; Pyrimidine nucleoside
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa043116

The standard combination of intravenous fluorouracil plus leucovorin for adjuvant treatment of colon cancer was compared with the oral fluoropyrimidine capecitabine in almost 2000 patients with resected colon cancer. With disease-free survival as the primary end point, capecitabine was at least as effective as fluorouracil plus leucovorin. The oral drug had fewer side effects than the intravenous combination. With disease-free survival as the primary end point, capecitabine was at least as effective as fluorouracil plus leucovorin. The oral drug had fewer side effects than the intravenous combination. Almost 1 million patients receive a diagnosis of colorectal cancer yearly, and half a million deaths from this neoplasm occur annually worldwide. 1 Each year, approximately 230,000 patients with colon cancer are eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy. 1 – 3 The benefits of fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy in reducing the risk of relapse and prolonging survival in patients with resected colon cancer are well established, particularly in stage III disease. 4 – 6 Survival advantages were demonstrated with bolus intravenous fluorouracil plus leucovorin administered according to the Mayo Clinic regimen (five days, monthly, for six months) or the Roswell Park regimen (weekly bolus, six of every eight . . .