Study: Chemotherapy Aids Survival of Elderly With Stage III Colon Cancer

The chemotherapy drug fluorouracil (5-FU) significantly extends the survival of elderly patients with stage III colon cancer and the benefit does not appear to diminish with increased patient age, according to University of Chicago researchers.

The researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on their analysis of 3,357 elderly Medicare beneficiaries who had undergone surgery for stage III colon cancer, comparing the outcomes for patients who received 5-FU to the outcomes of untreated patients.

The researchers said that among patients studied, chemotherapy reduced the risk of death by 27 percent. They said that five years after surgery, 52.7 percent of those treated with 5-FU were still alive, compared to 40.7 percent of those who did not receive chemotherapy.

"These findings support the continued use of adjuvant 5-FU in the general population of elderly patients with stage III colon cancer," the researchers concluded. "Furthermore, this survival benefit does not appear to diminish with patient age."

Other Sources: Journal of Clinical Oncology