A clinical study of metastasized rectal cancer treatment: assessing a multimodal approach

Metastasized rectal cancer has long been considered incurable. During recent years, the treatment of rectal cancer patients has been improved, and nowadays, a subgroup of patients might even be cured. The aim of this study was to investigate the optimal timing of treatment in a multimodal therapy schedule in order to see whether the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to conventional chemotherapy was effective. The study included 39 patients with metastatic rectal cancer between 2009 and 2011, and three were excluded due to the lack of metastases or lack of follow-up information. The remaining 36 patients were divided into groups by treatment intention. The group with curative intention received mainly oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) in combination with capecitabine (Xeloda) with or without bevacizumab (Avastin) for 2 months followed by preoperative radiotherapy (RT) and surgery. Palliative patients had very different treatments depending on their needs of palliation. The median survival time for patients with curative intention was 31 months and for the palliative patients 12 months. Four of the patients (11%) with curative intention were considered cured at the end of follow-up. The response to chemotherapy after 2-month treatment is a good prognostic sign for which patients can be cured. Long-lasting palliation can be obtained with this treatment schedule. The main side effects were gastrointestinal events, including bowel perforation, neuropathy, thrombo-embolic disease and reduced general condition. All side effects are known, and the treatment is considered tolerable. We conclude that a good treatment schedule would be oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) in combination with capecitabine (Xeloda) with or without bevacizumab (Avastin) for 2 months, followed by preoperative RT and surgery.