Are Chemotherapy Holidays an Option in Advanced Colorectal Cancer?

For most patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), chemotherapy is palliative, with the goals of minimizing toxicity and optimizing quality of life. Previous studies have suggested that chemotherapy maintenance with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) after initial treatment with leucovorin, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX), or administering therapy on an intermittent schedule, does not compromise response or survival.

Now, researchers in the U.K. report results from the Medical Research Council's COIN trial, which compared continuous and intermittent chemotherapy in adults with previously untreated advanced CRC. Patients received one of two chemotherapy regimens:

• Oxaliplatin (130 mg/m²) on day 1, followed by capecitabine (1000 mg/m² twice da…