Erbitux improves overall survival in mCRC

Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck Serono's targeted cancer therapy Erbitux (cetuximab) offers a statistically-significant improvement in median overall survival compared with best supportive care, according to research published in the November issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. In the study metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients who had progressed with all available standard chemotherapies - irinotecan, oxaliplatin and flouropyrimidines.

The independent Phase III trial involved 572 patients and demonstrated that treating people with Erbitux as a monotherapy improved overall median survival by 32% - 6.1 months with Erbitux compared to 4.6 months with BSC only. The study also showed that patients treated with Erbitux had significantly improved progression-free survival and a better quality-of-life, with less deterioration in physical function and global health status scores (p<0.05) when compared to BSC.