Dr. Cathy Eng on Bevacizumab Plus FOLFOXIRI for Patients With mCRC

Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, medical oncologist, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the combination of bevacizumab with FOLFOXIRI (irinotecan, oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and folinate) as a treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Eng says the combination came about through medical professional's use of bevacizumab in the frontline as a treatment for mCRC, leading one Italian research group to start the TRIBE trial.

The trial studied bevacizumab plus FOLFOXIRI and found the combination improved both progression-free survival (PFS) and response rates over FOLFIRI (irinotecan, fluorouracil, and folinate) alone. The combination also found that patients receiving the combination had a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 25%, as opposed to the standard 13% in mCRC patients. Eng says the one downside to the combination is that patients become more prone to myelosuppression.