Preoperative Uracil, Tegafur, and Concomitant Radiotherapy in Operable Rectal Cancer: A Phase II Multicenter Study With 3 Years' Follow-Up

PURPOSE: To assess tolerance and efficacy of preoperative treatment with uracil/tegafur and radiotherapy (RT) followed by surgery and postoperative flurouracil (FU)/leucovorin (LV) in patients with rectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients (n = 94) with potentially resectable tumors, ultrasound at stages T2N+ (n = 4), T3 (n = 77), T4 (n = 13) were treated with UFT (400 mg/m2/d, 5 days a week for 5 weeks) and concomitant RT to the pelvis (45 Gy; 1.8 Gy/d over 5 weeks). Patients underwent surgery 5 to 6 weeks later followed by four cycles of FU/LV. Primary end points included downstaging, pathologic responses, and sphincter-preserving surgery. Secondary end points were recurrence-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: All patients received the full RT dose. Fifteen patients (16%) needed UFT dose reduction. Preoperative G3+ toxicities included diarrhea (14%), leukopenia (1%), thrombocytopenia (1%), and nausea (4%). The downstaging rate was 54%, pathologic complete response (pCR) was 9% and, in an additional 23%, there were only residual microscopic foci. When cellular viability criteria were taken into account, the pCR was 15%. From 43 patients with abdominoperineal resection indication, 11 (25%) had sphincter-preserving surgery performed. Postoperative scheduled chemotherapy dose was not administered to 24% of patients because of G3+ toxicity (diarrhea, 8%; mucositis, 9%; and leukopenia, 7%). Patients with downstaging had significantly higher survival and recurrence-free survival rates than those without. At 3 years, actuarial patterns of failure were pelvic, 5% and distant, 11%. OS was 75%. CONCLUSION: UFT combined with RT is safe and effective. In resectable rectal cancer, if preoperative treatment is considered, this approach can be an option.