Studies Show Benefit of Eloxatin-Based Chemotherapy With Bevacizumab

Sanofi-aventis has announced preliminary results of two large prospective trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of Eloxatin-based regimens in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.

TREE-2 is the first study to assess the safety of Eloxatin (oxaliplatin for injection)-based regimens combined with bevacizumab for the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Preliminary efficacy results suggested that adding bevacizumab improved the response rate of all Eloxatin-based regimens.

Results of the E3200 study demonstrated a significant 26 percent reduction in the risk of death for patients receiving Eloxatin-based chemotherapy (FOLFOX4) plus bevacizumab compared to those who received FOLFOX4 alone. Although patients in the E3200 study had previously been treated for advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer, median overall survival with Eloxatin-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab was 12.5 months compared to 10.7 months with FOLFOX4 alone. The difference is statistically significant and corresponds to a 17 percent improvement in median overall survival in this previously treated patient population.