Results of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Study Released

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 11 Jul 2017

The results of a colorectal cancer study that compared standard first-line chemotherapy alone, and the same chemotherapy with Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) treatment have been released.

The researchers reviewed the overall survival of the 1,103 patients who took part in the study. All patients had colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver. The patients were randomized to receive either only chemotherapy, or chemotherapy with SIRT radioembolization using SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres.

Image: Researchers have found that adding SIRT to chemotherapy may boost colorectal cancer survival (Photo courtesy of MNT).

The results of the FOXFIRE Combined Analysis study were presented at the 2017 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) by researchers from the University College London Cancer Institute (UCL; London, UK).

The patients had a median age of 63 years and had all been diagnosed with unresectable metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC). The cancer had either metastasized to only the liver, or several additional parts of the body. The results did not show any significant difference in Overall Survival (OS) for the two groups, however an exploratory subgroup analysis of the FOXFIRE, SIRFLOX and FOXFIRE Global study did show that adding Y-90 resin microspheres to first-line chemotherapy for mCRC could increase OS in patients with right-sided primary colon tumors.

Co-principal investigator of the study, Professor Ricky Sharma, said, "Our analysis did not meet its primary endpoint of an overall survival (OS) benefit for patients treated with SIRT plus first-line chemotherapy compared to patients treated with chemotherapy alone. Nonetheless, I believe this study has significantly enriched scientific understanding of the role of SIRT in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer, particularly in the liver. Finding more effective treatments remains a critical issue for these patients. Following further validation, this unexpected finding may prove to be clinically meaningful as patients with right-sided primary colon tumors represent more than a third (35–38%) of all colon cancer patients."

Related Links:
University College London Cancer Institute