Adjuvant treatment for colon cancer OK’d

European authorities recently approved capecitabine, an innovative oral chemotherapy, as an adjuvant treatment (post-surgery) for colon cancer.

The drug has been shown to prolong cancer-free survival with less serious side effects compared to standard current treatment.

Adjuvant chemotherapy is a standard treatment approach for stage III colon cancer to destroy cancer cells remaining in the body after the tumor has been surgically removed.

The landmark X-ACT (Capecetabine in Adjuvant Colon Cancer Therapy) trial, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology 2004, showed that capecitabine is at least as effective as intravenous 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) in improving disease-free survival with a superior reduction in the risk of cancer recurrence.

On the average, a patient only needed eight hospital visits when treated with capecitabine compared to 30 visits if treated with 5-FU/LV. This resulted in significant cost savings.

In 2004, approximately 88,000 patients in Europe, who had advanced colorectal or breast cancer, benefited from capecitabine.

Based on the approved new indication, approximately 55,000 colon cancer patients a year can now also be treated with this effective and better-tolerated oral cancer treatment.