Purpose: This retrospective study was performed to evaluate the administration and effect of PSK in patients with stage III colorectal cancer in clinical practice.
Patients and methods: The subjects were 55 patients with stage III colorectal cancer who received adjuvant chemotherapy, comprising UFT in 44, UFT/calcium folinate (Leucovorin) in 4 and 5-FU/levofolinate calcium (l-LV) in 7, between April 2000 and December 2006. The rate of administering PSK, disease-free survival time, and overall survival time were evaluated.
Results: The rate of administering PSK was 82%. There was no significant difference in disease-free survival and overall survival between patients who received PSK and those without. Among the patients in stage IIIa, the patients who received PSK tended to show a longer overall survival time than those without PSK (p =0.15).
Conclusions: The rate of administering PSK is high in patients with stage III colorectal cancer. But further cases would be needed to evaluate the effect of PSK with 5-FU-based adjuvant chemotherapy.