Onkológia 4/2020

Essential principes of chemotherapy for stage II and III colon cancer

Adjuvant chemotherapy is beneficial for stage III colon cancer patients. The most useful and convenient chemotherapy regimen is CAPOX (capecitabine, oxaliplatin). Based on most recent pooled analysis, 3-month duration should be sufficient for most patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy is usually withheld for stage II colon cancer patients. We reserve it for patients with high-risk features. Microsatellite instability testing should be done for all patients undergoing adjuvant treatment. In following questions and answers, we demonstrate the optimization of adjuvant chemotherapy for bowel cancer patients.

Keywords: chemotherapy, colon cancer, adjuvant, treatment duration, oxaliplatin, 5-FU