Adjuvant Chemotherapy of Locally Advanced Colon Cancer: Final Results of a Randomized Trial Comparing 5-Fluorouracil and Folinic Acid with Folfiri.

Background: There is still the need to optimize adjuvant treatment of colon cancer (CC). Standard adjuvant chemotherapy using 5-fluorouracil (FU) and folinic acid (FA) was compared with a combination including irinotecan (Folfiri). The aim of the present report was to analyze overall survival (OS) after long-term follow-up, to summarize final recurrence rates and toxicity data, and to identify possible clinical and pathological factors associated with prognosis.

Response prediction in metastasised colorectal cancer using intratumoural thymidylate synthase: results of a randomised multicentre trial.

Background: Molecular markers to predict response to 5-fluorouracil (FU)-based treatment of recurrent or metastasised colorectal cancer (mCRC) are not established. The aim of this trial was to determine the value of thymidylate synthase (TS), a key enzyme of DNA synthesis and target of 5-FU, to predict response to chemotherapy of mCRC.

Methods: Tumour tissue was obtained from 168 patients with mCRC for relative thymidylate synthase (TS) mRNA quantitation.