Chemotherapy plus supportive care (SC) v SC alone for patients with gastrointestinal cancer*
| Patients’ conditions | Number of patients | Comparison | Survival | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *CR = colorectal; CHT = chemotherapy; combination CHT = 5-FU, leucovorin, and cisplatin; ELF = 5-FU, leucovorin, and etoposide; FLv = 5-FU and leucovorin. | ||||
| †Patients could receive SC. | ||||
| ‡Significant only after correction for imbalances in pretreatment characteristics. | ||||
| Advanced CR and stomach cancer refractory to CHT | 107 | Octreotide† v SC | 20 v 11 weeks | <0.0001 |
| Metastatic CR cancer that progressed within 6 months of treatment with fluorouracil | 279 | Irinotecan plus SC v SC | 9.2 v 6.5 months | 0.0001 |
| Previously untreated, inoperable, locally recurrent or metastatic CR cancer | 36 | Combination CHT plus SC v SC | 11 v 5 months | 0.006 |
| Advanced, surgically incurable stomach cancer | 61 | ELF or FLv plus SC v SC | 8 v 5 months | 0.003‡ |
