Trifluridine/tipiracil add-on to bevacizumab safe, effective for mCRC

In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), using trifluridine/tipiracil with bevacizumab is a safe and effective treatment for refractory disease, a recent study has found.

Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 35 patients (median age 64 years) who had mCRC that was refractory or resistant to standard therapy. The test treatment was given at 30–35 mg/m² doses. The outcomes of interest were overall response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS).

Participants had a median age of 64 years and 62.9 percent were men. Majority (68.6 percent) were given the trifluridine/tipiracil regimen as a third-line treatment and received a median of four cycles. Thirty-one patients were available for response analysis, in whom the ORR was 3.2 percent and the DCR was 51.6 percent.

Over a median follow-up of 11.6 months, researchers were able to calculate a median PFS of 4.3 months, while median OS was at 9.3 months.

Regression analysis showed that the absence of peritoneal metastases was a significant correlate of better OS, as was having grade 1–2 (vs grade 3) tumour. Similarly, the lack of peritoneal metastasis also improved PFS, while having <3 metastatic sites (vs ≥3) led to worse PFS.

In terms of safety, researchers found neutropaenia to be a common adverse event, present in 74.3 percent of participants. This was followed by asthenia (65.7 percent), anaemia (54.8 percent), and thrombocytopenia (34.3 percent).