Making sense of anti-EGFR plus oxaliplatin-based therapy in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer

Abstract

EGF receptor (EGFR) targeting in patients with wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer has been associated with clinical activity in first-, second- and third-line therapies. Panitumumab, a human monoclonal antibody that targets EGFRs, had previously been associated with tumor regressions and improved progression-free survival in patients with chemotherapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer. Douillard et al. have reported on the results of the Phase III Panitumumab Randomized Trial in Combination with Chemotherapy for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer to Determine Efficacy (PRIME) Phase III of fluoroucil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin, with and without panitumumab, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. This article focuses on the PRIME study and its implications on clinical practice. In addition, the results of the PRIME study in the context of another EGFR-targeting agent, cetuximab, when combined with oxaliplatin-based first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, is discussed.