SAPPHIRE: A randomized phase II study of mFOLFOX6 + panitumumab versus 5-FU/LV + panitumumab after 6 cycles of frontline mFOLFOX6 + panitumumab in patients with colorectal cancer.
729 Background: FOLFOX therapy, an infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with leucovorin in combination with oxaliplatin (OXA), is a common first-line chemotherapy regimen for unresectable, advanced or recurrent colorectal carcinoma (CRC). However, long-term administration of OXA is associated with peripheral neuropathy (PN); decreasing treatment length of OXA may be beneficial without reducing its efficacy. Methods: Chemotherapy-naïve pts aged ≥20 yrs with RAS wild-type advanced/recurrent CRC were enrolled to receive 6 cycles of panitumumab (Pmab) + mFOLFOX6 once every 2 wks. Pts who completed 6 cycles of Pmab + mFOLFOX6 and confirmed no progressive disease were subsequently randomized 1:1 to continue to receive Pmab + mFOLFOX6 (arm 1) or Pmab + 5-FU/LV (arm 2). The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 9 mos after randomization. The threshold PFS rate was defined as 30%, and the expected rate was set at 50%, with a 90% power and a 1-sided alpha value of 0.10. In the primary analysis, a binomial test was conducted separately for each arm. This study was designed as a phase II randomized screening comparison study which does not use direct comparison for the primary analysis. Results: Of 164 enrolled pts who received initial Pmab + mFOLFOX6 treatment, 56 were randomized to arm 1 and 57 to arm 2. PFS rates at 9 mos after randomization were significantly higher than the defined threshold at 44.6% (80% CI, 36.4–53.2) in arm 1 and 47.4% (39.1–55.8) in arm 2. Median PFS after randomization was 9.1 (8.6–11.2) and 9.3 (6.0–13.0) mos, respectively. Grade ≥2 PNs occurred in 6 (10.7%) and 1 (1.8%) pts in arms 1 and 2, respectively. Serious AEs occurred in 14 (25.0%) pts in arm 1 and in 9 (16.7%) pts in arm 2. Conclusions: The results of this trial suggest that Pmab + 5-FU/LV after 6 fixed-cycles of Pmab + mFOLFOX6 may be a treatment option in pts with RAS wild type chemotherapy-naïve advanced/recurrent CRC. Pts treated with Pmab + 5-FU/LV had a lower occurrence of grade ≥2 PNs compared with Pmab + mFOLFOX6. Clinical trial information: NCT02337946.