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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · South Asian J Cancer 2014; 03(03): 175-178
DOI: 10.4103/2278-330X.136802
COLORECTAL CANCER : Original Article

Biweekly cetuximab and first-line chemotherapy in chinese patients with k-ras wild-type colorectal cancers

Authors

  • Wing-Lok Chan

    Departments of Clinical Oncology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

  • Victor Ho Fun Lee

    The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

  • Wai Kwan Steven Siu

    Departments of Clinical Oncology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

  • Pui Ying Patty Ho

    Departments of Clinical Oncology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

  • Rico King Yin Liu

    Departments of Clinical Oncology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

  • To Wai Leung

    Departments of Clinical Oncology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

Source of Support: Nill.
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Abstract

Background: The efficacy and safety of using combination chemotherapy with cetuximab as first-line treatment in patients with K-ras wild-type colorectal cancers has been well established. In general, weekly cetuximab was given with biweekly chemotherapy FOLFOX-4 or FOLFIRI, synchronizing them would be appealed to both patients and health care professionals. Materials and Methods: This Phase II, prospective study investigated the efficacy and safety of using biweekly cetuximab 500 mg/m 2 with chemotherapy FOLFOX-4 or FOLFIRI as first-line treatment for Chinese patients with K-ras wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer. The study endpoints included overall objective response (OR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and safety. Results: Total 15 Chinese patients (male: 10 [67%]; median age: 60 [range 41-80]) were enrolled. Patients received median 12 cycles (range 2-12) of chemotherapy + cetuximab (FOLFOX-4 + cetuximab: 9 [60%]; FOLFIRI + cetuximab: 6 [40%]). Six patients (40%) with non-progressive disease after 12 cycles of chemotherapy + cetuximab carried on maintenance cetuximab. Median duration of follow-up (FU) was 23.7 months. The OR was 40% (complete response: 0%; partial response: 40%) for a disease control rate of 87%. Median PFS and OS were 7.8 months and 17.9 months respectively. For maintenance cetuximab phase, median PFS since the start of maintenance cetuximab was 6.8 months and median OS was 17.0 months. The only grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia (26.7%) in chemotherapy phase and acneiform rashes (16.7%) in maintenance phase. Conclusions: Biweekly cetuximab with combination chemotherapy was effective and safe as weekly dose. Further studies are warranted for the role of maintenance cetuximab.

Key words

Cetuximab - chemotherapy - colorectal cancer - maintenance - metastasis


Publication History

Article published online:
31 December 2020

© 2014. MedIntel Services Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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