JOIN trial: treatment outcome and recovery status of peripheral sensory neuropathy during a 3-year follow-up in patients receiving modified FOLFOX6 as adjuvant treatment for stage II/III colon cancer

Purpose

Adjuvant FOLFOX therapy is an established standard-of-care for resected colon cancer. Peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN) is regarded as the major toxicity issue related to FOLFOX therapy. There have been a few reports on the recovery status from PSN thereafter. JOIN trial investigated the tolerability and efficacy of adjuvant modified FOLFOX6 (mFOLFOX6) in Japanese patients with stage II/III colon cancer.

Methods

Twelve cycles of mFOLFOX6 were given to patients with stage II/III curatively resected colon cancer. Treatment outcomes, including disease-free survival (DFS), relapse-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and recovery status of PSN during 3-year follow-up, were investigated.

Results

Of the 882 patients enrolled from 2010 to 2012, 864 were eligible for the efficacy analyses. Three-year DFS, RFS, and OS were favorable in 92.1, 92.8, and 97.4% of stage II patients; 76.4, 77.9, and 93.8% of stage IIIA/B; and 61.6, 62.7, and 85.9% of stage IIIC, respectively. The cumulative incidence of PSN during treatment was 47.8% in grade 1 (G1), 30.3% in G2, and 5.8% in G3. For those with G3 PSN during treatment, there was gradual recovery in 1.1% of patients at 12 months after enrollment, 0.5% at 24 months, and 0.2% at 36 months. However, G1 or G2 residual PSN after 3 years was observed in 21.0% (18.7%, G1; 2.3%, G2).

Conclusions

Adjuvant mFOLFOX6 therapy was effective and well tolerated in patients with stage II/III colon cancer. Most patients recovered from G3 PSN related to oxaliplatin, but approximately 20% of patients had G1 or G2 PSN at 3-year follow-up.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s00280-019-03957-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association Between Adjuvant Chemotherapy Duration and Survival Among Patients With Stage II and III Colon Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

IMPORTANCE

The results from the recent International Duration Evaluation of Adjuvant Therapy (IDEA) collaboration have led some clinicians to adopt shorter durations of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stage III colon cancer. The extent to which these findings are supported by other data is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and observational studies investigating the association between the duration of adjuvant chemotherapy and survival among individuals diagnosed as having stage II and III colon cancer (PROSPERO protocol CRD42018108711]).

DATA SOURCES

Abstracts published in English between 2003 and 2018 within the MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and CINAHL databases were reviewed by 2 authors. Also searched were conference proceedings and the indexes of high-impact oncology journals.

STUDY SELECTION

Studies were excluded if they did not present original data; focused on animal populations, on cancers in sites other than the colon, or on patients with stage 0, I, or IV disease; did not examine a 5-flourouracil-based monotherapy or combination therapy; or did not evaluate the association between treatment duration and survival. The search identified 2341 articles, from which 2 randomized trials and 20 observational studies were included in the meta-analysis.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

This study followed the PRISMA and MOOSE reporting guidelines. The risk of bias was assessed by 2 authors using the Cochrane and Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tools. The results were synthesized using a random-effects model.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary and secondary outcomes were overall survival and disease-free survival, respectively. It was hypothesized a priori that 3 months of chemotherapy would be as effective as 6 months of chemotherapy.

RESULTS

Twenty-two studies were included in the meta-analysis, representing 43 671 patients. The inclusion of patients with stage II disease or with rectal cancer was identified as a source of heterogeneity. After restricting the analysis to patients with stage III colon cancer, there was no association between the duration of chemotherapy and overall survival among studies involving FOLFOX (leucovorin calcium [folinic acid], fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) or CAPOX (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) regimens (hazard ratio [HR], 0.80; 95% CI, 0.58-1.09). Among studies focused exclusively on monotherapy, the standard 6-month regimen relative to a 3-month regimen was associated with improved survival (HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.52-0.68).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Shortened durations of chemotherapy may reduce survival among patients with stage III colon cancer prescribed monotherapy but not a combination regimen.