Bevacizumab combined with first-line chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer in a real-world setting

This article looked at the effectiveness of bevacizumab (Avastin) with chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in a real-world setting. The authors found that the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy regimens provides survival benefits in patients who cannot undergo curative local treatment.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is currently the third most common cancer worldwide. mCRC that has spread around the body from its original location. Standard care for CRC that cannot be surgically removed is chemotherapy. mCRC is a difficult to treat disease with a poor prognosis. 

Bevacizumab is a targeted therapy that blocks the growth of new blood vessels tumors need to grow and multiply. This starves tumors and makes them more vulnerable to chemotherapy. It has been previously shown in clinical trials that bevacizumab improves the outcomes of patients with CRC when added to chemotherapy. However, patients are carefully selected for clinical trials and they are usually young and otherwise healthy. However, if this benefit is seen in real-world patients remains under investigation. 

This study had 3748 patients with mCRC. 2616 patients received FOLFOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) or FOLFIRI (folinic acid, fluorouracil, and irinotecan) chemotherapy alone and 1132 patients received one of these regimens with bevacizumab. 

There was a slightly higher overall survival in the bevacizumab group (3 years) compared to chemotherapy alone (2.6 years). 

In patients with tumors that were not eligible for surgical removal, the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy was associated with an 18% higher overall survival compared to chemotherapy alone. 

The authors found that the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy improves the outcomes of patients with mCRC who cannot undergo surgical removal of tumors in a real-world setting.

The information used in this study was from a hospital database and is not as detailed as clinical trial data. This study was carried out on a Korean population and may not translate globally.