Cooperative study of surgical adjuvant chemotherapy of colorectal carcinoma (second study): 3-year survival after surgery of non-curatively resected patients. Cooperative Study Group of Surgical Adjuvant Chemotherapy of Colorectal Cancer in Japan]

A prospective randomized study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of surgical adjuvant chemotherapy for non-curatively resected colorectal carcinoma patients as a collaborative study at 428 institutes in Japan from Jan., 1984 to Dec., 1985. A total of 1,138 patients were entered in this study. All patients were divided according to disease location (colon or rectum) and received one of two chemotherapeutic regimens after surgery (Regimen C: MMC 12 mg/m2 i.v. at operation day and 6 mg/m2 in every 2 months +UFT 600 mg/day p.o., D: the same dose of MMC + UFT 400 mg/day p.o.) randomly. 556 cases (colon carcinoma regimen C: 148, D: 185 cases, rectal carcinoma regimen C: 94, D: 129 cases) were evaluable at this presentation. Three-year-survival rate of histologically confirmed non-curatively resected colon carcinoma patients was higher in the group receiving regimen C than in regimen D. But no significant difference was found among the other groups.