Oxaliplatin-fluoropyrimidine combination therapy is the gold standard treatment for patients with stage III colorectal cancer (CRC); however, treatment duration is now under re-evaluation. The aim of the study was the evaluation of the non-inferiority of three over six months treatment with FOLFOX or CAPOX, in stage III CRC patients. Peripheral blood samples from 121 patients were collected, at three time points during treatment and evaluated for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and microbial DNA detection (16S rRNA, Escherichia coli, Bacteroides fragilis, Candida albicans). Of all patients, 41.3% and 58.7% were treated with FOLFOX and CAPOX, respectively. CTCs were significantly decreased and increased after three and six months of treatment, respectively. CAPOX tends to reduce the CTCs after 3 months, whereas there is a statistically significant increase of CTCs in patients under FOLFOX after 6 months. A significant correlation was demonstrated between microbial DNA detection and both CTCs detection at baseline and CTCs increase between baseline and three months of treatment. To conclude, the current study provides additional evidence of non-inferiority of three over 6 months of treatment, mainly in patients under CAPOX.
Keywords: adjuvant chemotherapy; circulating tumor cells; colorectal cancer; microbial DNA; stage III; three vs. six months adjuvant treatment.