The Design and Results of the FIRE-3 Trial

Volker Heinemann, MD, PhD, professor, medical oncology, University of Munich in Munich, Germany, discusses the design and results from the FIRE-3 trial at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting.

In the randomized phase III FIRE-3 clinical trial, cetuximab (Erbitux) plus FOLFIRI chemotherapy (folinic acid, fluorouracil, irinotecan) was compared to bevacizumab (Avastin) plus FOLFIRI for first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and KRAS wild-type tumors.

Clinical Pearls I

In the intent-to-treat population, there was no significant difference observed with regard to objective response rate. Heinemann notes that cetuximab showed benefit in assessable patients. Further, the median time to progression-free survival was nearly the same in the two arms (10.0 vs 10.3 months respectively). Overall survival was markedly longer in the cetuximab arm (28.7 months) compared to the bevacizumab arm (25.0 months).

• The FIRE-3 trial was a randomized phase III trial
• The trial analyzed FOLFIRI + cetuximab versus FOLFIRI + bevacizumab for metastatic colorectal cancer

Clinical Pearls II

• In the intent-to-treat population, there was no significant difference with regard to objective response rate
• Cetuximab showed benefit among all assessable patients

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