Trifluridine/Tipiracil (TAS-102) for refractory metastatic colorectal cancer in clinical practice: a feasible alternative for patients with good performance status

Introduction Our aim was to assess efficacy and safety and prognostic factors associated with TAS-102 in clinical practice. Method Retrospective, multicenter, and observational study including patients with advanced refractory colorectal cancer who started TAS-102 between March 2016 and August 2018. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Secondary end points included progression-free survival, toxicity and analyze prognostic factors present at the beginning of TAS-102. Result 84 patients were evaluable. The median OS was 8.30 (95% CI 6.23–9.87) months and PFS was 2.62 (95% CI 2.36–3.05) months. In multivariate analysis, ECOG 0 and reduced dose combined with more cycles were associated with better prognosis. Patients with an ECOG > 0 had worse prognosis (HR 3.34, 95% CI 1.09–10.27, p = 0.035). 95.2% experienced some type of adverse effect and 45.2% had grade ≥ 3 toxicities. Conclusion Results suggest reconsidering TAS-102 in patients with ECOG > 0, something that should be investigated in prospective randomized clinical trials.