Efficacy of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy + bevacizumab as first-line treatment for advanced colorectal cancer: a systematic review and pooled analysis of published trials.

Objectives: Oxaliplatin and either capecitabine or infusional/bolus 5-fluorouracil (5FU)-based chemotherapy + bevacizumab (XELOX + B and FOLFOX + B) represent 2 of the approved first-line treatments for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the addition of B did not offer a survival benefit compared with FOLFOX/XELOX alone in the phase III, NO16966 trial. The aim of this review was to aggregate all published data on the efficacy of XELOX and FOLFOX-B in prospective and retrospective studies as first-line therapy for stage IV CRC.

Methods: We performed a systematic review, through PubMed and EMBASE, of all published studies exploring the efficacy of fluoropyrimidines + oxaliplatin + B-based chemotherapy as first-line chemotherapy in advanced CRC patients. Pooled estimates of the response rates, weighted medians of progression-free survival, and overall survival from all FOLFOX + B and XELOX + B arms were calculated.

Results: A total of 25 studies were retrieved, with a total of 7878 patients. Overall, the pooled response rates (n=20 publications) was 49.1%. The median progression-free survival and overall survival (n=21 and 22 publications, respectively) were 10.3 and 23.7 months, respectively. The pooled median rate of surgical resection of metastases (n=13 publications) was 14%.

Conclusions: XELOX + B and FOLFOX + B are active combinations as first-line treatment of advanced CRC. The efficacy is confirmed for the first time from this pooled analysis of 25 trials. Both the XELOX + B and the FOLFOX + B arms represent 2 of the cornerstone combinations when B is used as first-line therapy.