The “addition” and “subtraction” of adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced colorectal cancer

Compared with surgery alone, post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) for local colorectal cancer (CRC) can significantly improve survival.[1,2] The benefit of adjuvant fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy in stage III CRC was established in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Protocol C-01 trial[3] and consolidated in subsequent studies.[1,4] Thus, 5-FU has been widely used as a basic ACT for CRC since then. More...