Effect of Adjuvant Chemotherapy on Survival of Elderly Patients With Stage III Colorectal Cancer

BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of adjuvant chemotherapy in elderly patients with stage III colorectal cancer in a real-world setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 165 patients of ≥70 years of age with stage III colorectal cancer who underwent a curative operation between 2008 and 2020 were enrolled in this study. RESULTS: Among septuagenarians, the relapse-free and overall survival rates in the single-agent therapy group and the combination therapy group were significantly better than those in the group treated by surgery alone. However, no significant differences were observed in the relapse-free and overall survival rates of the single-agent therapy group and the combination therapy group. Among octogenarians in whom all regimens were single-agent therapy, adjuvant chemotherapy tended to improve the relapse-free and overall survival rates but not the time to recurrence or cancer-specific survival. CONCLUSION: Single-agent adjuvant chemotherapy may be a useful treatment option for septuagenarians with stage III colorectal cancer. However, the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy in octogenarians was not shown in this study.