[Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for lung, gastric, colorectal and breast cancers]

The prognosis of the patients with malignant tumors who underwent complete resection is not necessarily satisfactory even in their early stages. Perioperative adjuvant therapy has been expected as one of possible treatment options for improving patient's outcomes. Recently, several randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses with a large number of enrolled patients have shown that postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in patients with several solid tumors. In this article, we reviewed the advances and current roles of adjuvant chemotherapy in major histology of solid tumors in Japan such as lung, gastric, colorectal and breast cancers.