Bevacizumab plus capecitabine as later-line treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to irinotecan, oxaliplatin, and fluoropyrimidines

Abstract

There is an unmet medical need for later-line treatment options for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Considering that, beyond progression, co-treatment with bevacizumab and cytotoxic chemotherapy showed less toxicity and a significant disease control rate, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of capecitabine and bevacizumab. This single-center retrospective study included 157 patients between May 2011 and February 2018, who received bevacizumab plus capecitabine as later-line chemotherapy after progressing with irinotecan, oxaliplatin, and fluoropyrimidines. The study treatment consisted of bevacizumab 7.5 mg/kg on day 1 and capecitabine 1,250 mg/m2 orally (PO) twice daily on day 1 to 14, repeated every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). The median PFS was 4.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.9–5.3). The median overall survival (OS) was 9.7 months (95% CI 8.3–11.1). The overall response rate was 14% (22/157). Patients who had not received prior targeted agents showed better survival outcomes in the multivariable analysis of OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.59, 95% CI 0.43–0.82, P = 0.002) and PFS (HR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.43–0.85, P = 0.004). Bevacizumab plus capecitabine could be a considerably efficacious option for patients with mCRC refractory to prior standard treatments.