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FOLFIRI plus panitumumab effective in metastatic colorectal cancer
FOLFIRI chemotherapy plus panitumumab appears safe and effective for the second-line treatment of patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer, according to long-term study results.
Researchers evaluated data from 1,186 patients who had received one prior treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. Half the patients received 6 mg/kg panitumumab (Vectibix, Amgen) plus FOLFIRI every 2 weeks, and the other half received FOLFIRI alone.
Patients in the panitumumab arm with KRAS wild-type tumors demonstrated significantly improved median PFS compared with patients in the FOLFIRI arm (6.7 months vs. 4.9 months; HR=0.82; 95% CI, 0.69-0.97).
Researchers also observed a trend toward improved median OS in patients assigned panitumumab (14.5 months vs. 12.5 months; HR=0.92; 95% CI, 0.78-1.10).
Thirty-six percent of patients assigned panitumumab responded to treatment compared with 10% of patients assigned FOLFIRI alone (P˂.0001).
Results of post-hoc analyses showed patients who received prior oxaliplatin plus bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) demonstrated improved median PFS compared with those who received FOLFIRI alone (6.4 months vs. 3.7 months; HR=0.58; 95% CI, 0.37-0.90).
Toxicities associated with treatment were comparable to those observed with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy, researchers said.
“These data confirm the primary efficacy and safety findings of this trial and support panitumumab-FOLFIRI as a second-line treatment of wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of the researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.