Biomedical subjects

W S Wang

Publications and source records attributed to W S Wang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Colorectal carcinoma: from tumorigenesis to treatment.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a complicated and often fatal genetic disease. Fortunately, owing to rapid expansion of knowledge and technology development in oncology, much progress has been made regarding the diagnosis, understanding of the molecular genetics and malignant progression, as well as the novel regimens of CRC. In this review, we summarize the staging system, the most critical genetic and epigenetic alterations, the pleiotropic effects of MMP-7, the controversial roles of Hedgehog signaling, the intriguing involvement of thymosin beta-4, and the possible contribution of the putative colon (cancer) stem cells in CRC tumorigenesis. Current treatments as well as several potentially applicable therapeutic strategies for CRC are also discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Relatively favorable outcomes of post-transplant pulmonary function in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia receiving non-myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Pulmonary function tests were performed in 20 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia before and after human leukocyte antigen-matched allogeneic sibling hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to identify any conditioning treatment effects on post-transplant function from January 1995 to December 2002. Of 20 patients, eight received non-myeloablative conditioning treatment and 12 received conventional myeloablative conditioning treatment. Pulmonary function tests including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) were performed pretransplant, 6 and 12 months post-transplant. Possible pre-HSCT and post-HSCT risk factors were evaluated for association with pulmonary function. The results showed that myeloablative conditioning treatment had greater negative impact on FEV1, FVC, and DLCO than non-myeloablative conditioning therapy. We conclude that non-myeloablative allogeneic HSCT may apply a better transplant choice in patients who need special concern with post-transplant pulmonary function changes.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for severe aplastic anemia--experience of an institute in Taiwan.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an accepted treatment strategy for patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA). We report our experience in a general hospital in Taiwan. From March 1985 to July 2001, 79 consecutive SAA patients, 46 male and 33 female, with a median age of 22 (4-43) years, received 80 courses of transplantation. Cyclophosphamide and total body radiation were used for the conditioning regimen, and cyclosporine-A and methotrexate for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention. Patients were followed for a median of 39 months (from 8 days to 194 months). Myeloid and platelet engraftment occurred in a median of 15 (8-27) days and 18 (8-77) days, respectively. Three patients had primary and three patients secondary graft failure. Five patients (6.8%) had grade II-IV acute GVHD in 73 evaluable patients. Chronic GVHD occurred in 23 (34.8%) patients, with extensive stage in six. Only two patients had CMV disease. The projected 3- and 5-year overall survival rates estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method were 76.08 and 74.13%, respectively. Age at transplant, non-sibling donor, mononuclear cell dose, grade II-IV acute GVHD, interval from diagnosis to transplant, and red blood cell and platelet transfusion before transplant were poor prognostic factors for overall survival by univariate analysis. Grade II-IV acute GVHD was the only prognostic factor affecting overall survival after multivariate Cox regression analysis (P=0.040). In conclusion, SAA patients receiving HSCT have good long-term survival. The low incidence of acute GVHD in our patients may be related to ethnicity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Comparative genomic hybridization of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: correlations between chromosomal aberrations and disease progression/prognosis.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal carcinoma is a major cause of cancer-related deaths among males in Taiwan. However, to date, the genetic alterations that accompany this lethal disease are not understood. METHODS: Chromosomal aberrations of 46 samples of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (EC-SCC) were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), and their correlations with pathologic staging and prognosis were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: In total, 321 gains and 252 losses were found in 46 tumor samples; thus, the average gains and losses per patient were 6.98 and 5.47, respectively. Frequent gain abnormalities were found on chromosome arms 1q, 2q, 3q, 5p, 7p, 7q, 8q, 11q, 12p, 12q, 14q, 17q, 20q, and Xq. Frequent deletions were found on chromosome arms 1p, 3p, 4p, 5q, 8p, 9p, 9q, 11q, 13q, 16p, 17p, 18q, 19p, and 19q. It was found that deletions of 4p and 13q12-q14 and gain of 5p were significantly correlated with pathologic staging. Losses of 8p22-pter and 9p also were found more frequently in patients with advanced disease. Gain of 8q24-qter was seen more frequently in patients with Grade 3 tumors. A univariate analysis found that pathologic staging; gains of 5p and 7q; and deletions of 4p, 9p, and 11q were significant prognostic factors. However, pathologic staging became the only significant factor in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: CGH not only revealed novel chromosomal aberrations in EC-SCC, but also found possible genotypic changes associated with disease progression. Despite all of the possible associations of chromosomal aberrations with disease progression, the most important prognostic factor for patients with EC-SCC was pathologic staging.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Carcinoembryonic antigen in monitoring of response to systemic chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

The response to chemotherapy of solid tumors is generally assessed by measuring tumors visualized by imaging. However, the response assessment based on imaging is not always feasible because patients often have disease not measurable by imaging, such as diffuse peritoneal dissemination. We evaluated the correlation between the change on imaging and change in CEA levels for assessing chemotherapeutic response of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Between July 1993 and August 1999 we retrospectively examined 136 patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma, all of whom had measurable lesions. Forty patients received oral tegafur-uracil (300 mg/m2/day) plus folinic acid (60 mg/day) for 4 weeks, repeated every 5 weeks, as the firstline treatment. Another 96 patients received either a weekly intravenous bolus injection of 5-fluorouracil (400 mg/m2) plus folinic acid (20 mg/m2), or an intravenous bolus injection of 5-fluorouracil (425 mg/m2) plus folinic acid (20 mg/m2) for 5 consecutive days every month. Responders, based on CEA assessment, were defined as those with a greater than 50% drop in CEA level for more than 4 weeks. The pretreatment CEA levels were elevated beyond the normal cutoff value in 110 (81%) patients. A response rate of 18.4% (95% CI, 11.9-24.9%), including 8 complete remissions and 17 partial remissions, was achieved according to imaging studies. The response rate assessed by CEA was 25% (34/136). Sixteen responders (47%) based on CEA had no remission on imaging. The sensitivity of change in CEA levels in the prediction of true responders and progressive diseases on imaging were 72% and 81%, respectively. In terms of the positive predictive value, change in CEA levels in the prediction of true responders and progressive disease on imaging were 53% and 85%, respectively. Patients with remarkable falls on CEA levels survived significantly longer than nonresponders (P < 0.001, log-rank test). At follow-up of 48 months the median survival for responders and nonresponders assessed by CEA was 28 months and 13 months, respectively. These data suggest that measurement of CEA levels might be helpful in monitoring chemotherapeutic response when imaging study is unsuitable for assessing the response in clinical practice. Furthermore, measurement of CEA levels may be helpful in determining the prognosis of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving chemotherapy.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Tamoxifen and colchicine-modulated vinblastine followed by 5-fluorouracil in advanced renal cell carcinoma: a phase II study.

OBJECTIVES: Chemotherapy resistance of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been attributed in large part to multidrug resistance (MDR). Reported MDR-modulated chemotherapy for RCC, however, has resulted in only marginal response benefits. In this study, the MDR-modulated effect of paired tamoxifen and colchicine on vinblastine and the possible additive effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were investigated in the treatment of advanced RCC. METHODS: Chemotherapy was administered every 4 weeks with biweekly vinblastine (4 mg/m(2)/day, intravenously on days 1 and 15) modulated by oral tamoxifen (100 mg/day) and colchicine (1 mg/day) from days -1 to 2 and from days 13 to 16. 5-FU (800 mg/m(2)/day from days 2 to 5) was administered after vinblastine administration as a continuous infusion. RESULTS: Of 17 eligible patients with advanced RCC available for evaluation, 1 achieved a complete response (CR) and 3 a partial response (PR), with an overall response (CR plus PR) rate of 23.5%. The median overall survival time of all patients was 10 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.5 to 16.5); that of our patients with poor, intermediate, and favorable risks as stratified by Motzer's model was 6 (95% CI 1.7 to 10.3), 10 (95% CI 7.9 to 12.2), and 26 (95% CI 24.4 to 27.6) months, respectively. These results are encouraging in view of the poor efficacy of chemotherapy in RCC observed previously. Additionally, the treatment toxicity was limited: toxicity of grade 3 or greater occurred in only 1 patient with leukopenia, and no treatment-related mortality was found. CONCLUSIONS: The encouraging response rates and overall survival with limited toxicity warrant further investigation of this combination therapy as an integrated part of immunochemotherapy for RCC.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

A spectrofluorimetric method for cysteine and glutathione using the fluorescence system of Zn(II)-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid complex.

The addition of thiol compounds to the fluorescence system of Zn(II)-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid complex (Zn(II)-HQS) in H3BO3-Na2B4O7 buffer (pH 8.50) solution led to immediate fluorescence inhibition, which was proportional to their amounts. Based on this finding, a novel spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of cysteine (Cys) and reduced glutathione (GSH) has been developed. The detection limits were 17 ng ml(-1) and 0.6 microg ml(-1), respectively. Most amino acids had no interference at high concentrations. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of Cys in protein hydrolysate and cystine electrolyte, and GSH in human blood serum with recoveries of 95.6-104.5%.

Cysteine↗

PubMed2001

Relapse of Graves' disease after successful allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

As shown in many reports, allogeneic BMT can help cure autoimmune diseases. Conversely, we present a 24-year-old woman with Graves' disease, which was diagnosed just before BMT for CML. The Graves' disease remitted immediately after BMT but relapsed 18 months later. Since the donor was free from thyroid diseases and the patient showed a rapid shift to complete donor chimerism after BMT, the autoimmune problem seemed neither to arise directly from the donor nor simply from the recipient's residual lymphocytes. On the contrary, it was most likely compounded by chronic GVHD as suggested by the accompanying GVHD symptoms and the absolute donor karyotype in bone marrow cells. A Graves' disease-susceptible HLA allele was also shared between recipient and donor, possibly enhancing the chances of this condition developing. Thus, allogeneic BMT may facilitate relapses in autoimmune diseases as well as alleviating them.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Complete atrio-ventricular block as a major clinical presentation of the primary cardiac lymphoma: a case report.

It is uncommon for malignant lymphomas to present primarily with cardiac invasion as the main clinical feature. What we are interested in is not only where the disease is, but also those symptoms that it may induce. Sudden onset of complete atrio-ventricular block is one of the most common clinical presentations. Cardiac tamponade is another common disease entity which, if it locates over outlets of great vessels, may also exert symptoms of obstructive vessels. Diagnosis can be made by needle aspiration under the guidance of transcutaneous or transesophageal echocardiography. Both CT scan and MRI play positive roles in the diagnosis of cardiac lymphomas, and the latter can even provide much more image information than the former. We report a 70-year-old male with primary cardiac lymphoma with initial clinical pictures of sudden onset of complete atrio-ventricular block. Chemotherapy was utilized with cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisolone (COP) initially for four courses and followed by adding doxorubicin (CHOP) for another three courses. The patient was still in remission status after treatment for 2 years.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Salvage therapy with single-agent paclitaxel by three-hour infusion in metastatic breast cancer: an experience in Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Paclitaxel is an active agent in the treatment of breast, ovarian, lung and head and neck cancers. In previous phase I and II trials, it exerted novel cytotoxic effect on several malignancies. Various doses and regimens of paclitaxel have been assessed in metastatic breast cancer, with responses between 20 and 62%. However, combination therapy with other anti-cancer drugs leads to a high incidence of side effects. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of paclitaxel given by 3 h infusion as salvage chemotherapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer. METHODS: Between May 1999 and April 2000, 14 women with metastatic breast cancer were enrolled in this study and all the patients had to have measurable lesions. The median age of the patients was 48.7 years (range 39-56 years). All of them were definitely evidenced as having metastatic breast cancer and received complete courses of anthracycline-containing agents before applying paclitaxel. The protocol was single-agent paclitaxel (Anzatax, Faulding, Australia) at a moderate dosage of 175 mg/m(2) by 3 h intravenous infusion every 3 weeks. RESULTS: A total of 75 cycles were administered to these 14 patients with a median of four delivered cycles (range 3-14) and the response rate was 28.6% (95% CI: 21-40%), including four partial remission, three stable disease and seven progressive disease. The median time to progression was 3 (range 3-7) months. Hematological toxicities were minimal with no evidence of severe (grade 3 or 4) leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Hepatic toxicities were observed in 12 cycles with five in grade 3. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that utilizing single-agent paclitaxel exerts moderate activity on anthracycline-refractory metastatic breast cancer patients without excessive toxicities.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Molecular analysis of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of ocular adnexa.

Lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) are a distinct subgroup of extranodal B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Most studies have failed to demonstrate the clonal rearrangement of BCL-1, BCL-2 or c-MYC genes for MALT lymphomas. Further, alteration of the p53 gene is rarely demonstrated in low-grade MALT lymphomas, but can be detected in high-grade disease. Lymphomas of the ocular adnexa represent approximately eight percent of all extranodal lymphomas, most of which are MALT lymphomas, but few studies had explored the alterations of BCL-1, BCL-2, c-MYC and p53 genes specifically for ocular MALT lymphomas. We investigated the changes to BCL-1, BCL-2, c-MYC and p53 genes in these lymphomas for Taiwanese patients. Clonal rearrangement for immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH), BCL-1, BCL-2, c-MYC and p53 genes was examined for 16 cases of ocular MALT lymphoma. Restriction-length polymorphism and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) of the DNA, corresponding to exons 5 through 9, followed by DNA sequencing, were utilized to analyze the possible mutations of the p53 gene for these tumors. Thirteen of the cases revealed rearranged IgH genes using Southern blotting or PCR. No rearrangement of BCL-1, BCL-2, c-MYC or p53 genes was discovered, with point mutation of the p53 gene in one case. As for other types of MALT lymphomas, BCL-1, BCL-2 and c-MYC genes are not implicated in the pathogenesis of the ocular sub-group. Although alteration of the p53 gene is rare for low-grade ocular MALT lymphoma, its role in disease progression merits further research.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Covalent modification of the Werner's syndrome gene product with the ubiquitin-related protein, SUMO-1.

Werner's syndrome is a potential model of accelerated human aging. The gene responsible for Werner's syndrome encodes a protein that has a helicase domain homologous to Escherichia coli RecQ. To identify binding partners that regulate the function in concert with Wrn, we screened for proteins using the yeast two-hybrid system with mouse Wrn as bait and found three. One was a novel protein, and the other two were mouse Ubc9 and SUMO-1. Ubc9 also interacted with the mouse homologue of the Bloom's syndrome gene product, another eukaryotic RecQ-type helicase, but not mouse DNA helicase Q1/RecQL (RecQL1). Deletion experiments indicated that both proteins interacted with the N-terminal segment of Wrn (amino acid 272-514). The interaction between Wrn and SUMO-1 was weaker than that between Wrn and Ubc9. Positive interaction was observed in the heterogeneous combination of Wrn and yeast Ubc9 (yUbc9), as well as yUbc9 and SUMO-1, in the two-hybrid system. The interaction between yUbc9 and SUMO-1 was abolished by deleting the C-terminal Gly residue of SUMO-1, which is reportedly required for the formation of Ubc9-SUMO-1 thioester linkage. The interaction of Wrn and SUMO-1 was also abolished by deleting the Gly residue, indicating that the interaction of Wrn and SUMO-1 is mediated by yUbc9 in the two-hybrid system. Finally, we confirmed by immunoblotting with an anti-SUMO-1 antibody that Wrn was covalently attached with SUMO-1.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

PubMed2000

Brain size does not predict general cognitive ability within families.

Hominid brain size increased dramatically in the face of apparently severe associated evolutionary costs. This suggests that increasing brain size must have provided some sort of counterbalancing adaptive benefit. Several recent studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have indicated that a substantial correlation (mean r = approximately 0.4) exists between brain size and general cognitive performance, consistent with the hypothesis that the payoff for increasing brain size was greater general cognitive ability. However, these studies confound between-family environmental influences with direct genetic/biological influences. To address this problem, within-family (WF) sibling differences for several neuroanatomical measures were correlated to WF scores on a diverse battery of cognitive tests in a sample of 36 sibling pairs. WF correlations between neuroanatomy and general cognitive ability were essentially zero, although moderate correlations were found between prefrontal volumes and the Stroop test (known to involve prefrontal cortex). These findings suggest that nongenetic influences play a role in brain volume/cognitive ability associations. Actual direct genetic/biological associations may be quite small, and yet still may be strong enough to account for hominid brain evolution.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Lack of mutations of BCL6 and BCL10 genes in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas of the orbital adnexa.

Knowledge regarding the molecular pathogenesis and progression of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas of ocular adnexa is limited. Eleven cases of ocular MALT lymphoma were analyzed by clonal rearrangement of antigen receptor genes using Southern blot hybridization. Polymerase chain reaction-single stranded conformational polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing was utilized to analyze the mutations of BCL6 and BCL10 genes. Clonal rearrangement of immunoglobulin heavy genes was found in all 11 patients. No point mutation was found in BCL6 or BCL10 genes in any of the samples analyzed. We suggest that mutations of BCL6 and BCL10 genes are rare in low-grade MALT lymphoma of ocular adnexa and are unlikely to be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. But the role of alterations of both BCL6 and BCL10 genes in the disease progression of low-grade MALT lymphoma require additional study.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

PubMed2000

Eremophilenolides from Ligularia fischeri.

The chemical investigation of Ligularia fischeri afforded three new eremophilenolides which were identified as 6 beta-methoxy-8 beta-hydroxy-eremophil-7(11)-en-12,8 alpha-olide, ligufischerin, and 6-oxo-8 beta-hydroxy-eremophil-7(11)-en-12,8 alpha-olide by 1D- and 2D-NMR spectra. In addition, six known eremophilenolides were also obtained.

Asteraceae↗

PubMed2000

Preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level as an independent prognostic factor in colorectal cancer: Taiwan experience.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level is considered as a factor predictive of survival in colorectal cancer patients. Patients with normal (<5 ng/ml) or lower preoperative CEA levels were reported to have significantly longer survival. This study was carried out in an effort to evaluate the prognostic significance of preoperative CEA levels of patients with colorectal cancer in Taiwan. METHODS: Between 1990 and 1994, 218 patients with histologically confirmed colorectal cancers were evaluated retrospectively at the Veterans General Hospital-Taipei. All the patients had undergone potentially curative surgery. Patients with metastatic diseases were not included. 5-Fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy was administered if the patients had Dukes' C disease. Reference to the Dukes' classification was according to the classical criteria described in 1932 for carcinoma of the rectum and adapted for use in colonic tumors. Data on gender, age, degree of tumor differentiation, location of the tumor, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, penetration of the bowel wall and preoperative CEA levels were analyzed to determine their association with survival. Blood samples for CEA measurement were taken a few days before operation and were analyzed using the radioimmunoassay method. Multivariate analysis by Cox's proportional hazards regression model was performed to determine the most important predictors of survival among all of the possible variables. RESULTS: By univariate analysis, the size of the tumor (p = 0.012), lymph node metastases (p = 0.007), penetration of the bowel wall (p < 0.001) and preoperative CEA levels (p < 0.001) were found to be significant prognostic factors, while gender, age, degree of tumor differentiation and location of the tumor were not significant. By multivariate Cox analysis, lymph node metastases (p = 0.003), penetration of the bowel wall (p = 0.0001) and preoperative CEA levels (p = 0.0001) were found to be independent prognostic factors in colorectal cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: The data from our study indicate that in addition to lymph node metastases and penetration of the bowel wall, the preoperative CEA levels are also an independent prognostic factor in non-metastatic colorectal cancer patients after curative surgery. This could serve as an appropriate modification to the initial Dukes' scheme in colorectal cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed2000

Venous gangrene in a patient with adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Cancer-related thromboembolism is a severe but not uncommon paraneoplastic syndrome in mucinous cancer patients. However, cancer-induced venous gangrene is extremely rare and has never been reported in the English literature. Here, we present a case of lung cancer complicated with venous gangrene of the left foot. An elevated serum anticardiolipin level was detected during hospitalization, but the patient's clinical condition stabilized after heparinization. We suggest that in cancer patients, an elevated serum anticardiolipin antibody level might be a warning sign of an impending thrombotic event and that low-molecular-weight heparin is a sensible choice in treating this kind of cancer-related thromboembolism.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed2000

Phase II study of oral tegafur-uracil and folinic acid as first-line therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer: Taiwan experience.

BACKGROUND: Tegafur-uracil has become an important regimen in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Tegafur is a prodrug that is converted to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and has been reported to be less toxic and to have a higher therapeutic index. The additional advantage of tegafur is oral administration, an important consideration to improve the quality of life in these patients. Tegafur in combination with uracil is thought to have greater anti-tumor activity due to the inhibitory effect of uracil on the degradation of 5-FU by hepatic dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase. Tegafur with folinic acid has been reported with modest efficacy and acceptable toxicity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and toxicity profile of oral tegafur-uracil plus folinic acid in Chinese patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. METHODS: Between May 1998 and August 1999, 40 patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma were enrolled in this study. All the patients had to have measurable lesions. The initial dose of tegafur-uracil was 300 mg/m2/day for 28 days, followed by a 7-day rest period. Folinic acid was administered orally at a dose of 60 mg/day concurrently with tegafur-uracil. For patients with neutrophil count <1500/microl or a platelet count <100,000/microl after treatment, the treatment was postponed for a maximum of 2 weeks. After that time, if the neutrophil count was 1000-1500/microl and the platelet count was 70,000-100,000 microl, the dose of tegafur-uracil was reduced by 50%, and if lower values resulted, the treatment was discontinued. RESULTS: Forty patients received a total of 318 courses of treatment and a response rate of 32.5% (95% CI, 18-47%), including five complete remissions and eight partial remissions, was achieved. Toxicity was mild and generally tolerable. Gastrointestinal toxicities, including diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, were the major side effects. Seven incidences (17.5%) of grade 3-4 gastrointestinal toxicity were observed. Hematological toxicities were minimal with no evidence of severe (grade 3 or 4) leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. No episode of hepatic, renal, cardiac or neurological toxicity occurred. Two patients (5%) developed transient painful fissuring erythroderma over their palms and soles (the hand-foot syndrome). CONCLUSIONS: The data from our study indicate that oral tegafur-uracil plus folinic acid is an active and tolerable first-line treatment for Chinese patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, with the additional advantage of being easily administered at home.

Adenocarcinoma↗