Chemotherapy plus antiangiogenic agents, including bevacizumab, ramucirumab and aflibercept, is a standard second-line treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, but which specific agents should be selected is ambiguous due to a lack of clear evidence from prospective studies. Previous reports have suggested ramucirumab and aflibercept could be more effective than bevacizumab in patients with high VEGF-D and high VEGF-A, respectively. JCOG2004 is a three-arm, randomized, phase II study to identify predictive biomarkers for these agents in patients who have failed first-line treatment. The study will enroll 345 patients from 52 institutions for 2 years, with progression-free survival in high VEGF-D (bevacizumab vs ramucirumab) and high VEGF-A (bevacizumab vs aflibercept) serving as the primary end point. Clinical Trial Registration: jRCTs031220058 (www.jrct.niph.go.jp).
Keywords: aflibercept; bevacizumab; metastatic colorectal cancer; phase II study; predictive biomarker; ramucirumab.