Neoadjuvant Therapy Found Beneficial in Rectal Cancer

Study suggests capecitabine and oxaliplatin before standard treatment improves survival rates

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with poor-risk, potentially operable rectal cancer, intensification of systemic therapy with neoadjuvant combination chemotherapy before standard treatment may result in good long-term outcomes, according to a study published online Jan. 26 in The Lancet Oncology.

Yu Jo Chua, of the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, U.K., and colleagues studied 105 patients who received 12 weeks of neoadjuvant capecitabine and oxaliplatin followed by chemoradiotherapy with capecitabine, total mesorectal excision, and 12 weeks of postoperative adjuvant capecitabine.

After neoadjuvant chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy, the researchers found that radiological response rates were 74 and 89 percent, respectively. After three years, they found that progression-free and overall survival rates were 68 and 83 percent, respectively, and that relapse-free survival among patients who had complete resection was 74 percent.

"Our findings justify further evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and support the value of pathological complete response as a surrogate efficacy end point, with no disease recurrences up to now in patients who achieved pathological complete response," the authors write.

The study was supported by Sanofi-Aventis. Several researchers reported financial relationships with Sanofi-Aventis, as well as with Roche.

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