Results from a Phase III study of a new drug show promise for patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, according to a study presented during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Investigators have shown that panitumumab improves progression-free survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who had failed standard chemotherapy. In the randomized trial of 463 patients, those who received panitumumab with best supportive care every two weeks (231 pts) showed a 46 percent decrease in the rate of tumor progression or death versus those who received only best supportive care (232 pts). At week 24, approximately four times as many pantimumab patients were alive and progression-free versus those on best-supportive care (18 percent versus five percent). Twice as many panitumumab patients were alive and progression-free at week 32 (10 percent versus four percent).
Study investigators also reported that panitumumab significantly improved disease control. In patients who responded, the median duration of response was 17 weeks. Extended follow-up also revealed that even after 32 weeks, a larger percentage of patients in the panitumumab with best supportive care group were alive without progression than in the group assigned to best supportive care alone.
"We are encouraged by these results, particularly that panitumumab was well-tolerated in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, with very few major adverse reactions," said Marc Peeters, M.D., Ph.D., coordinator of the Digestive Oncology Unit, from Ghent University Hospital in Belgium.