DEEPER Trial Reports Final Survival Outcomes in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

The randomized phase II DEEPER trial (jRCTs061180022) compared m-FOLFOXIRI plus cetuximab with m-FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab in patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer. This final analysis used extended follow-up to assess overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in the per-protocol set, with exploratory subgroup analyses by tumor characteristics, liver-limited disease, and sex.

There was no difference in PFS or OS between treatment groups in the overall per-protocol population. In patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type, left-sided tumors, median PFS was 14.8 months with cetuximab and 11.9 months with bevacizumab (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.52–0.97; P=.029). Median OS was 50.2 versus 40.2 months, respectively (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.53–1.05). Exploratory analyses also found longer OS with cetuximab among male patients (HR 0.59; P=.016) and patients with extrahepatic disease (HR 0.60; P=.014).

These subgroup results are exploratory and do not establish an overall survival advantage. The abstract does not provide further details on subgroup sizes or methods, limiting interpretation.