Higher Responses in Metastatic Colon Ca When Cetuximab Added to Chemo

ASCO — In a phase III study, patients with untreated metastatic colon cancer had significantly higher response rates when cetuximab (Erbitux) was added to their chemotherapy, compared with chemotherapy alone (FOLFIRI or FOLFOX), Alan Venook, MD, said at the ASCO 42nd Annual Meeting (abstract 3509). Dr. Venook, of the University of California, San Francisco, reported the results on behalf of CALGB. Response rates were 52% for cetuximab/chemotherapy vs 38% for chemotherapy alone (P = .029). The study, CALGB 80203, enrolled 238 patients before it was stopped due to the emergence of beva-cizumab (Avastin) as a component of therapy in this setting. Thus, the study is not powered for statistical analysis of progression-free and overall survival. An ongoing NCI-sponsored trial, CALGB/SWOG 80405, for which Dr. Venook is also PI, is designed to determine whether the addition of cetuximab to chemotherapy or to chemotherapy plus bevacizumab prolongs survival, compared to chemotherapy with bevacizumab, in patients with untreated, advanced, or metastatic colorectal cancer. The trial has a planned enrollment of 2,289.