Real-world outcomes for neoadjuvant capecitabine versus infusional 5-fluorouracil in the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) is standard of care treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). A pathologic complete response (pCR) following CRT is an early indicator of treatment benefit and associated with excellent survival outcomes. As capecitabine replaces infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as the fluoropyrimidine of choice in routine care of LARC, on the back of clinical trial data demonstrating equivalence, it is important to confirm that efficacy is maintained in the real-world setting. METHODS: We analysed data from a prospectively maintained colorectal cancer database at 3 Australian hospitals including patients diagnosed January 2009 to December 2018...