1995 Volume 4 Issue 2 Pages 103-107
Objective: To compare the pattern of recurrence and the survival rate after two regimens of adjuvant chemotherapy following curative resection of gastric cancer.
Design: Prospective multicentre trial.
Setting: Twenty-one departments of surgery.
Subjects: A total of 163 patients who had undergone histological curative resection.
Interventions: All patients received an intravenous bolus of mitomycin C (20mg) on the day of operation, and a dose of 10mg on the first postoperative day. They were then randomized to receive either oral tegafur (600mg/day) or tegafur-uracil (600mg/day) for 2 years from 2 weeks after the operation.
Main outcome measures: The pattern of recurrence and the survival rate were assessed.
Results: Tegafur-uracil reduced peritoneal recurrence when compared with tegafur. About 70% of all patients had recurrece within two years. The tegafur-uracil group had a significantly higher 7-year survival rate than the tegafur group (P=0.04).
Conclusion: The overall recurrence rate was generally lower in the tegafur-uracil group, although there was no statistical difference. Most of patients had recurrence occurred within 2 years after surgery. This finding indicates that postoperative maintenance therapy for 2 years is necessary to suppress recurrence.
