Panitumumab and capecitabine improves the outcomes of older patients with advanced colorectal cancer

This study investigated the effectiveness of panitumumab (Vectibix) and capecitabine (Xeloda) combination to treat older patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). Researchers suggested that this combination is a good and safe treatment for older patients with CRC.

CRC is a common cancer worldwide. CRC patients are usually older, with 67% of patients aged 65 years or older. This population is poorly represented in the research of new treatment methods or clinical studies as they commonly have additional medical conditions.

In advanced CRC cases, chemotherapy treatment is only of limited effectiveness. The addition of new agents such as targeted therapy to the treatment improves the outcomes of these patients. Targeted therapy such as panitumumab and cetuximab target certain proteins on cancer cells and stop them from growing. Prior studies showed that these two agents are associated with improved outcomes when taken alone or in combination. However, the response rate of older CRC patients to this treatment is not well known.

This study included information about 27 patients with CRC aged 70 years or older. These patients received a 3-week cycle of panitumumab plus capecitabine until progression or toxicity. The response rate was assessed every 9 weeks. The average follow-up period was 17.7 months.

Response rate 44.4%, with 25.9% of patients achieving at least stable disease (cancer does not grow or spread). The average response duration was 8.7 months, and the time to treatment response was 2.2 months.

The average progression-free survival (time from treatment to disease progression) was 7.5 months and average overall survival was 23.7 months.

63% of the participants experienced serious side effects. The most common side effect was skin toxicity (18.5%) and diarrhea (14.8%). Two (7.4%) deaths were related to the treatment (due to inflammation of the organ linings and internal hemorrhage).

This study concluded that panitumumab and capecitabine combination was a good and well tolerated option for first-line treatment of older patients with advanced CRC.

This study included a very small number of participants. Further larger studies are needed.