Gan to kagaku ryoho. Cancer & chemotherapy
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Capecitabine, an oral fluoropyrimidine carbamate, is adopted worldwide. As the treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer, capecitabine showed at least comparable efficacy with a favorable safety profile to bolus 5-FU/LV. In a large phase III trial (Xeloda Adjuvant Chemotherapy Trial: X-ACT), as the adjuvant treatment of patients with resected stage III colon cancer, capecitabine showed at least comparable disease-free survival, overall survival, and relapse-free survival with a favorable safety profile to bolus 5-FU/LV. ⋯ The median time to disease progression was 169 days and the median overall survival was 617 days. Hand-foot syndrome (HFS), a characteristic adverse event of capecitabine, was observed in 73.3% of the patients, but the grade 3/4 was observed in 13.3% of the patients and only one patient discontinued the treatment due to HFS. An immediate approval of capecitabine in Japan is expected.