[Adjuvant radiochemotherapy with 5-FU and folinic acid in Dukes stage B and C rectum carcinoma: an interim analysis].

: In a prospective multi-institutional German adjuvant trial patients with curatively resected rectal cancer (Dukes B or C) were randomly assigned to receive postoperative radiotherapy (50.4 Gy) and either 12 or 6 cycles of 5-fluorouracil and medium-dose folinic acid. Our preliminary results of the interim analysis, based on 206 patients, indicate that this adjuvant therapy is well tolerated by the patients and a prolonged chemotherapy over 12 months has no advantage over 6 months of chemotherapy. The relatively high rate of tumor recurrence (30.7%) after a median follow-up of 29.3 months in this trial emphasizes the need for dose intensification planned for a further trial.