Treatment outcomes of cetuximab combined with chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer
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Abstract
A retrospective descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the treatment outcomes of Cetuximab combined with chemotherapy in 102 patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) at K Hospital (January 2018 – April 2026). The median age was 60 years old. The objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 50.6% and 78.3%, respectively. The overall conversion rate to curative-intent intervention was 9.8%. There were no significant differences in the curative conversion rate (13.0% vs. 12.5%, p = 1.0), median progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) between the two chemotherapy backbones, mFOLFOX6/FOLFOX and FOLFIRI. The median overall PFS was 8.48 months; the median OS was not reached, with a 12-month OS rate of 78.2%. Common toxicities included acneiform rash (44.1%), elevated AST/ALT (40.2%), and anemia (37.3%). Grade ≥3 toxicities accounted for 28.4%, with no treatment-related deaths recorded. Cetuximab combined with chemotherapy demonstrated positive disease control efficacy and an acceptable safety profile. The selection of the chemotherapy backbone should be individualized, as there is no significant difference in survival outcomes or the potential for conversion to radical surgery.
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Keywords
Cetuximab, Erbitux, metastatic colorectal cancer, RAS wild-type, progression-free survival, treatment response
References
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