The Effect of Tegafur-Uracil on Survival in T Categories as Defined in the Eighth Edition of the TNM Classification: An Exploratory Analysis of Postoperative Adjuvant Tegafur-Uracil on Survival in Patients with Adenocarcinoma of the Lung.

BACKGROUND: Tegafur-uracil (UFT) improves survival in patients with stage I adenocarcinoma of the lung. We evaluated the effect of UFT on survival in maximum primary tumor diameter (T) categories as defined in the eighth edition of the TNM Classification (TNM8).

METHODS: Tumors were subgrouped on the basis of T category (TNM8) as follows: T1a, T ≤1 cm; T1b, 1 < T ≤2 cm; T1c, 2 < T ≤3 cm; T2a, 3 < T ≤4 cm; T2b , 4 < T ≤5 cm; T3, 5 < T ≤7 cm. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by Cox proportional hazard models.

RESULTS: UFT was associated with improved survival. The adjusted HRs were as follows: for T1a, 0.79 (95% CI 0.14-4.50); for T1b, 1.16 (95% CI 0.63-2.12); for T1c, 0.74 (95% CI 0.43-1.27); for T2a, 0.45 (95% CI 0.21-0.96); for T2b, 0.55 (95% CI 0.10-3.07), and for T3, 0.70 (95% CI 0.20-2.50).

CONCLUSIONS: The adjuvant chemotherapy with UFT tended to improve survival in patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung of each T category based on TNM8, except T1b.