Oxaliplatin for Rectal Cancer Is Not Effective

Adding oxaliplatin to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy improves survival in the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage 3 colon cancer. Does adding oxaliplatin to preoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy also improve outcomes in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer?

To find out, investigators in Italy randomized 747 patients with clinical stage T3–4 or node-positive rectal cancer to receive 50.4 Gy of radiotherapy plus 5-FU (225 mg/m² daily by continuous infusion) with or without oxaliplatin (60 mg/m² weekly for 6 weeks), each followed by surgery. Clinical stage T3 disease was present in 82% and 81% of oxaliplatin recipients and nonrecipients, respectively, and 67% and 64% were node positive. Although the primary endpoint was o…