Evolution of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) during palliative systemic treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients participating in the randomized phase 3 CAIRO3 study

Abstract

Background: Observational studies suggest that low SMM is associated with chemotherapy-related toxicity and poor survival in mCRC patients. Little is known about patterns of SMM during palliative systemic therapy. Here we use data of the CAIRO3 study (Simkens et al. Lancet 2015) in which mCRC patients with stable disease or better after 6 cycles capecitabine + oxaliplatin + bevacizumab (CAPOX-B) were randomized between maintenance treatment with capecitabine + bevacizumab (CAP-B, M) and observation (O). In both groups CAPOX-B or other treatment was reintroduced upon disease progression until second disease progression, which was also the primary study endpoint. We used repeated scan data of 101 CAIRO3 patients to investigate SMM during treatment.