Thought this might be of interest:
Patients with Stage II and Stage III Colon Cancer Treated with 5-FU-Based
Adjuvant Therapy after 1995 Have Improved Overall Survival
CHICAGO -- June 03, 2010
ASCO Abstract Number: 3616 - Patients with stage III colon cancer treated with
5-FU-based chemotherapy after complete surgical removal of their tumor after
1995 had improved overall survival with no change in time to recurrence compared
to patients treated before 1995. In contrast patients with stage II colon cancer
treated after 1995 had longer time to recurrence and time from recurrence to
death compared to those patients treated prior to 1995, according to Mayo Clinic
and Gr Hospitalier Pitie-Salpetriere, Paris, researchers. They will present the
study's findings on June 4-8, 2010, at the 2010 American Society of Clinical
Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago.
"By combining information from 21 cancer treatment trials for patients with
stage II and stage III colon cancer, our analysis determined that those patients
treated after 1995 had improved overall survival," says Dan Sargent, Ph.D., Mayo
Clinic biostatistician, North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG)
statistician and senior author on the study.
The analysis compared patient data from more than 18,000 patients with stage
II and stage III colon cancer treated with 5-FU-based chemotherapy after their
primary tumor had been surgically removed for the time period 1978-1995 versus
1996-2007.
"Patients with stage II colon cancer treated after 1995 had had longer time to
recurrence, possibly due to improvements in surgery and pathology" says Dr.
Sargent. "In addition, after 1995, both stage II and stage III colon cancer
patients treated after surgery with the same 5-FU-based chemotherapy after
surgery had improved overall survival. This finding provides evidence to support
previous findings that access to new medical therapies introduced in the
mid-1990s as well as the expanded use of surgery for patients recurrent disease
have meaningfully improving overall survival for patients treated in this
setting."
The findings arise from analysis of combined data collected within an expanded
database by the Adjuvant Colon Cancer End Points (ACCENT) Group a consortium of
scientists. The ACCENT database includes data from more than 33,500 patients
from the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. ACCENT, chaired by Dr.
Sargent, is supported by the North Central Cancer Treatment Group.
Dr. Sargent conducted the analysis on the expanded database in concert with an
international team of scientists participating in ACCENT including Qian Shi,
Ph.D. and Brian Bot, from Mayo Clinic; Thierry Andre M.D., Gr Hospitalier
Pitie-Salpetriere; Greg Yothers, M.D., NSABP Statistical Center, Pittsburgh;
Daniel Haller, M.D., Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh; Eric Van
Cutsem, M.D., Ph.D., University Hospital Gasthuisberg/Leuven; James Cassidy,
M.D., Glasgow University; Jacqueline Benedetti, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, Seattle; and Michael O'Connell, M.D., National Surgical
Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Foundation, NSABP Operations Center,
Pittsburgh.
About Mayo Clinic
For more than 100 years, millions of people from all walks of life have found
answers at Mayo Clinic. These patients tell us they leave Mayo Clinic with peace
of mind knowing they received care from the world's leading experts. Mayo Clinic
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At Mayo Clinic, a team of specialists is assembled to take the time to listen,
understand and care for patients' health issues and concerns. These teams draw
from more than 3,700 physicians and scientists and 50,100 allied staff that work
at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona; and
community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern Minnesota,
western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a
million people each year. To best serve patients, Mayo Clinic works with many
insurance companies, does not require a physician referral in most cases and is
an in-network provider for millions of people. To obtain the latest news
releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about
research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com)
is available as a resource for your general health information.
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