Clinical

Radioembolization plus chemotherapy "impressive" for colorectal metastases to liver

Last Updated: 2007-04-10 15:45:15 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Martha Kerr

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment of inoperable liver metastases from colorectal cancer with radioembolization of the tumors using yttrium-90 microspheres, added to standard chemotherapy, is safe, well tolerated and had a 90% response rate in a phase I trial conducted at the University of Oxford, UK.

In the 20-patient trial, Dr. Ricky A. Sharma and colleagues injected resin microspheres containing the beta-emitter yttrium-90 into the hepatic artery, targeting the malignant vasculature.

Patients continued to receive gold-standard chemotherapy with fluorouracil and leucovorin (FOLFOX). Results of the study are published in the March 20th issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Sharma told Reuters Health that 18 patients (90%) "showed an objective response to treatment, involving a decrease in the tumour size by at least 50%. The remaining two patients (10%) had stabilization of their disease."

Tumor size decreased sufficiently in two patients "to enable the remaining disease to be removed by surgery," Dr. Sharma added.

"Although this is a small study in 20 patients, the findings are impressive compared to equivalent studies conducted using FOLFOX chemotherapy alone in patients with similar disease," Dr. Sharma continued. "Most importantly, the addition of radioembolization appears to be well-tolerated, thus paving the way for larger studies of this combination."

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In fact, an international trial involving over 20 cancer centers in the UK and Australia is currently being developed, Dr. Sharma said. "This trial will study patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver and is not amenable to surgery, who have not previously received chemotherapy for the spread of their disease."

J Clin Oncol 2007;25:1099-1106.