Role of densitometric criteria in evaluation of effectiveness of antiangiogenic therapies in metastatic colorectal cancer: An Italian clinical experience

Abstract

Background/Aim: To evaluate the role of densitometric criterion using the Choi Criteria in the assessment of the response to antiangiogenic treatments of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) compared to the RECIST criteria. Patients and Methods: Fifty-four patients (mean age=50.6 years ) affected by advanced colorectal cancer and with hepatic and possibly peritoneal and pulmonary metastases, that can be treated with bevacizumab, were prospectively evaluated by computerized tomography (CT) scan. Metastases were also evaluated by CT in onedimensional form according to RECIST. Results: Results show that in 58% of analyzed cases, stable disease according to RECIST coincided with stable disease according to the CHOI criteria, whereas in 42% of analyzed cases disease progression according to RECIST corresponded to stable disease or even partial response according to CHOI criteria. Conclusion: By using the densitometric criterion with CHOI criteria, the evaluation of the response to antiangiogenic treatment of mCRC is partially different compared to RECIST criteria.