FOLFOX-4 3months Versus 6 Months and Bevacizumab as Adjuvant Therapy for Patients With Stage II/III Colon Cancer

At the present time the standard treatment for resected colon cancer with high possibility of relapse ("high risk" stage II and all stage III) is represented by the regimen FOLFOX (leucovorin, bolus and infusional 5fluorouracil and oxaliplatin), which is able to increase significantly the disease-free survival (DFS) at 3 and 4 years, whereas the advantage for 5-year overall survival (OS) (which is predicted by the previous parameter) could be observed only with a further increase of follow-up. The conventional duration of chemotherapy is today of 6 months (12 courses every 2 weeks), but this long drug exposure increases the risk of long-term neurotoxicity. A reduction of adjuvant chemotherapy under 6 months was proven effective in other cancers (breast, testis…) and is better tolerated by patients in clinical practice. On the other hand, bevacizumab significantly increases OS and all other parameters when combined with standard chemotherapy in advanced disease.