768 Efficacy of oral UFT for adjuvant chemotherapy after complete resection of non-small cell lung cancer: Meta-analysis of six randomized trials in 2003 patients

Postoperative Chemotherapy in Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review

A systematic review of the evidence for postoperative chemotherapy in completely resected nonsmall cell lung cancer was conducted. Seven meta-analyses and 25 randomized trials met the pre-defined eligibility criteria for the review. The evidence indicates that postoperative platinum-based chemotherapy improves survival compared with surgery alone; for patients with a good performance status who are fit enough for chemotherapy, the survival benefits strongly outweigh the adverse effects of treatment. To date the trials restricted to stage IB or II disease have obtained the greatest survival benefits with postoperative platinum-based chemotherapy. The evidence does not support the use of postoperative radiotherapy with chemotherapy.

Postoperative adjuvant therapy for completely resected early-stage non-small cell lung cancer

Consensus on adjuvant therapy for completely resected non-small cell lung cancer until 2002 was as follows. (1) There was no significant impact of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy based on meta-analysis and previous clinical trials. (2) Confirmatory studies are necessary in large-scale prospective clinical trials. However, recent mega trials have introduced epoch-making changes for postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in clinical practice since ASCO 2003. The effectiveness of UFT in N0 patients was confirmed. Patients with completely resected stage I non-small cell lung cancer, especially T2N0 adenocarcinoma, will benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy with UFT. The results of the International Adjuvant Lung Trial (IALT) have confirmed the meta-analysis in 1995. Also, both the JBR10 and Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9633 studies have also confirmed positive IALT results of the benefit for postoperative platinum-based chemotherapy in completely resected non-small cell lung cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy for pathological stage IB to II, completely resected non-small cell lung cancer is standard care based on clinical trials. UFT showed the strongest evidence for IB in Japan. Platinum doublet chemotherapy with third-generation anticancer agents is also recommended. Adjuvant chemotherapy should be offered as standard care to patients after completely resected early stage non-small cell lung cancer. However, there is no evidence of the feasibility and efficacy for adjuvant chemotherapy with the platinum-based regimen in Japan. Careful management should be necessary in such treatment.

Angiogenesis and the efficacy of postoperative administration of UFT in pathologic stage I non-small cell lung cancer

UFT is an oral 5-fluorouracil derivative drug that may improve postoperative survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and experimental studies have shown that UFT inhibits tumor angiogenesis. In the present study, therefore, the correlation between tumor angiogenesis (intratumoral microvessel density, IMVD) and the efficacy of UFT in 162 patients with pathologic stage I NSCLC was examined. For higher IMVD tumors (IMVD > or = 20, n = 80), the 5-year survival rate of UFT-treated patients (82.5%) was significantly higher than that of surgery-alone patients (61.8%, P = 0.032). For lower IMVD tumors (n = 82), however, there was no difference in the survival between these groups (5-year survival rates, 84.9% and 82.6%, respectively; P = 0.657). Multivariate analyses confirmed that postoperative UFT administration was effective for higher IMVD tumors (P = 0.046; relative risk [RR] and the 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.288 [0.084-0.979]), but not for lower IMVD tumors (P = 0.616; 0.726 [0.208-2.539]). Moreover, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) status was also a predictive factor. For tumor showing strong VEGF expression (n = 63), UFT administration improved the survival (5-year survival rates of UFT-treated patients and surgery-alone patients, 84.6% and 60.0%, respectively; P = 0.048); for weakly VEGF-expressing tumors (n = 99), UFT administration did not influence the survival (5-year survival rates, 83.4% and 79.1%, respectively; P = 0.455). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that UFT administration seemed to be effective for strong VEGF tumors (P = 0.063; RR and the 95% CI, 0.234 [0.051-10.81]), but not for weak VEGF tumors (P = 0.456; 0.673 [0.293-1.900]). In conclusion, the efficacy of postoperative UFT administration in NSCLC was correlated with tumor angiogenesis.