Clinical impact of adjuvant chemotherapy on patients with stage III colorectal cancer: l-LV/5FU chemotherapy as a modified RPMI regimen is an independent prognostic factor for survival.

BACKGROUND Patients with stage III colorectal cancer have a substantial risk of microscopic metastatic disease at the time of resection. Treatment with leucovorin (LV)/5-Fluorouracil (5FU) has been demonstrated to be effective for advanced colorectal cancer; however, the clinical impact of l-LV/5FU is still unclear. 1-LV/5FU for patients with stage III colorectal cancer may play an important role, as an adjuvant chemotherapy, in improving survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS The clinicopathological features of 36 patients receiving adjuvant l-LV/54 administration and 16 not, univariate analysis of potential predictors of overall survival and disease-free survival, relative risk of overall survival and disease-free survival by multivariate analysis and the occurrence of chemotherapy-induced toxic effects were studied in 52 patients with stage III colorectal cancer, including 30 with rectal and 22 with colon cancer, who had undergone surgery. RESULTS No significant differences were found in the clinicopathological features of the 2 groups. On univariate analysis, there were no significant differences in overall survival in either group; disease-free survival in patients with adjuvant I-LV/5FU was longer than that in patients without it (p<0.001). Moreover, multivariate analysis demonstrated that I-LV/5FU adjuvant chemotherapy was an independent prognostic factor in terms of disease-free survival (p =0.001; RR, 17.492; 95% CI, 3.298-92.778). CONCLUSION I-LV/5FU adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage III colorectal cancer is important as an independent prognostic factor in terms of disease-free survival.