For people with metastatic colorectal cancer, the goal of treatment is often to keep the cancer from growing for as long as possible. A new analysis of past studies suggests that continuing the targeted drug cetuximab as maintenance therapy could help achieve that.
The analysis combined data from 727 patients across several trials. It found that those who stayed on cetuximab after initial treatment had a significantly lower risk of their cancer progressing or of dying. The risk of progression was cut by more than half, and the risk of death was reduced by about half as well. The benefit appeared even stronger in Asian patients.
However, the treatment wasn't without side effects. Diarrhea and rash were more common in the cetuximab group, though the overall rate of side effects wasn't statistically different from the observation group. The authors note that these findings need to be confirmed in larger, more rigorous trials before they can be considered definitive.