RAISE: A randomized, double-blind, multicenter phase III study of irinotecan, folinic acid, and 5-fluorouracil (FOLFIRI) plus ramucirumab (RAM) or placebo (PBO) in patients (pts) with metastatic colorectal carcinoma (CRC) progressive during or following first-line combination therapy with bevacizumab (bev), oxaliplatin (ox), and a fluoropyrimidine (fp).

Abstract

512 Background: Angiogenesis is an important therapeutic target in CRC; VEGF plays a key role in angiogenesis. RAM is a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets the extracellular domain of VEGFR-2. The RAISE study evaluated the efficacy and safety of adding RAM to standard second-line treatment FOLFIRI. Methods: Eligible pts with mCRC who progressed on or after first-line combination therapy with bev, ox, and fp, had an ECOG PS of 0 or 1, and adequate organ function were randomized 1:1 (stratified by region, KRAS mutation status, and time to progressive disease [PD] after beginning first-line treatment) to receive RAM (8 mg/kg IV) plus FOLFIRI or PBO plus FOLFIRI every 2 weeks until PD, unacceptable toxicity, or death. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and safety. Planned sample size of 1,050 pts ensured 85% power to demonstrate statistical significance at an overall two-sided alpha of 0.05, assuming a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.8. Results: Between Dec 2010 and Aug 2013, 1,072 eligible pts were randomized (RAM 536; PBO 536). Baseline pt characteristics were similar between treatment arms. The OS HR was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.98; log-rank p=0.0219). Median OS was 13.3months (m) for RAM vs 11.7m for PBO. The PFS HR was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.70, 0.90; log-rank p = 0.0005). Median PFS with RAM was 5.7m and 4.5m for PBO. ORR was 13.4% RAM; 12.5% PBO (p = 0.6336). Subgroup results were consistent with the OS and PFS results. Grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) occurring in >5% of pts in RAM+FOLFIRI were: neutropenia (RAM 38.4% vs PBO 23.3% ), hypertension (11.2% vs 2.8%), diarrhea (10.8% vs 9.7%), and fatigue (11.5% vs 7.8%). Conclusions: RAISE met its primary end-point, demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in OS for RAM and FOLFIRI vs PBO and FOLFIRI in second-line mCRC pts. Benefits were similar across important clinical subgroups and no unexpected AEs were identified. Clinical trial information: NCT01183780.