Key clinical point: Anlotinib was effective and tolerated in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Although overall survival (OS) did not reach statistical significance, anlotinib could still be clinically beneficial by substantially prolonged progression-free survival (PFS).
Major finding: Patients treated with anlotinib vs. placebo showed a significant 66% reduced risk for PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.34; P less than .0001); however, median OS was similar (HR, 1.02; P = .871). Hypertension (20.9%), increased γ-GT (7.1%), and hand-foot skin reaction (6.4%) were the most common anlotinib-related grade 3 or higher adverse events.
Study details: Findings are from the phase 3 ALTER0703 trial including 419 patients with mCRC who were randomly allocated to receive oral anlotinib (12 mg/day; n=282) or placebo (n=137) plus best supportive care.
Disclosures: The study was sponsored by Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.
Source: Chi Y et al. Oncologist. 2021 Jun 8. doi: 10.1002/onco.13857 .