Dr. Grothey Examines Adjuvant Oxaliplatin in Colon Cancer

Axel Grothey, MD, Professor of Oncology and Consultant in the Division of Medical Oncology in the Department of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, discusses a survey that examined the perceived benefits and use of adjuvant oxaliplatin in colon cancer.

Overall, surveys were collected from 102 US-based oncologists, 25 of whom were gastrointestinal cancer clinical investigators. The surveys provided data on the treatment used for 306 patients with stage II and 102 patients with stage III colon cancer. Additionally, the microsatellite mismatch repair (MMR) and 12-gene Recurrence Scores were reported to track the efficacy of treatment.

Treatment data indicated that oxaliplatin plus fluoropyrimidine was administered to 95 patients with stage III cancer and 85 with stage II. For patients with stage II and III colon cancer, respectively, MMR was evaluated in 127 and 20 and Recurrence Scores were obtained in 46 and 2.

Overall, Grothey notes, the study found that physicians overestimate the efficacy and activity of oxaliplatin for patients with colon cancer. Moreover, oxaliplatin was used extensively despite the fact that it provided less benefit than many oncologists reported requiring using the agent. This is significant, Grothey believes, since the administration of oxaliplatin is associated with serious neurotoxicity.