Adjuvant postoperative 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy combined with pelvic radiation for rectal cancer: Results from an Asian population

Prospective randomized clinical trials have shown the effectiveness of comb ined adjuvant 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surg ical resection of rectal cancer. To assess toxicity of this therapy prospec tive data were collected from 236 Asian rectal cancer patients treated with combined 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgery. Almost 82% of patients completed planned therapy. Grade 3 and 4 diarrhea, stomatitis, and granulocytopenia occurred in approximately 18-21% of patien ts. There were two treatment-related deaths from granulocytopenia and sepsi s. With median follow-lip of 3.5 years, median disease-free and overall sur vival was 75 and 88 months, respectively In conclusion, combined adjuvant 5 -fluarouracil-based chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgical resection of rectal cancer is tolerable in Asian patients with moderate toxicity.