Abstract
Background
Squamous cell anal carcinoma (SCAC) is an uncommon neoplasia often cured by surgery
and/or chemo-adiation therapy at the localized stage. Although the first-line treatment
for metastatic anal canal cancer is now better codified with two validated treatment
regimens, carboplatin-paclitaxel and modified docetaxel-cisplatin-5FU (DCF), there
is little data and no consensus regarding subsequent lines [
1
,
2
,
3
,
4
,
5
]. In this study, we report the safety and efficacy of cetuximab (an epidermal growth
factor receptor inhibitor) in combination with 5-FU plus irinotecan based chemotherapy.Method
A retrospective analysis of patients with metastatic SCAC (mSCAC), who failed on at
least one prior line of treatment, before being treated with the combination FOLFIRI
and cetuximab between March 2015 and February 2022 at Gustave Roussy cancer center,
was performed.
Results
A total of 33 patients with a pre-treated mSCAC were analyzed. The combination of
FOLFIRI and cetuximab provided a disease control rate (DCR) of 73%, and response rate
of 30%. With a median follow-up of 38 months, the median progression free survival
was 5.5 months, and the median overall survival was 13.7 months.
Fourteen patients (42%) experienced grade III/IV adverse events that remained manageable.
Conclusion
Our study suggests that FOLFIRI and cetuximab is a promising combination in the management
of mSCAC with a very good DCR and a manageable toxicity profile. Further prospective
trials would be needed to confirm our results.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 08, 2022
Accepted:
August 17,
2022
Received:
June 5,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
