The combination of FOLFOX4 and bevacizumab may enable salvage surgery of unresectable liver metastases in colon cancer

Colorectal cancer treatment has experienced important advances in the last 5 years. New targeted therapies have been included in the classical regimens based on 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, or irinotecan. This new approach has brought great revolution in the treatment of this type of cancer. Bevacizumab (Avastin), a new antivascular endothelial growth factor drug, has been shown to improve overall survival in combination with chemotherapy in first-line and second-line settings as compared with standard chemotherapy regimens alone. This case report demonstrates our experience with bevacizumab in a colon cancer patient with liver, lung, and regional lymph node metastases who had a relapse in the liver after adjuvant treatment with capecitabine (Xeloda). The addition of bevacizumab to the FOLFOX4 regimen resulted in a partial response that provided an opportunity for salvage hepatic surgery.