Efficiency and tolerability of 5-fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy in elderly patients with colorectal carcinoma

The benefit and tolerability of adjuvant chemotherapy for surgically treated colorectal cancer is less well defined in elderly patients. We reviewed data of 51 patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer between October 1993 and December 2002, and were ≥65 year-old at the first cycle of chemotherapy. Fifty-one elderly patients with colorectal cancer received 5-FU based adjuvant chemotherapy. Twenty-four patients (47.0%) had stage II, 25 (49.0%) had stage III, and 2 (3.9%) had stage IV disease (completely resected liver metastasis). Fourteen patients (27.5%) were treated with bolus 5-FU, while 37 patients (72.5%) were treated with infusional 5-FU. The most commonly observed grade 3-4 toxicities were myelosuppresion (17.6%) and diarrhea (15.6%), and they were more frequently seen in patients who received 5-FU bolus regimens (p<0.001 and p