# CAIRO3

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/cairo3/  
OnCo record `cairo3` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

After six cycles of chemotherapy, staying on a low-dose tablet and the antibody delayed the cancer's return without spoiling quality of life.

## Summary

CAIRO3 randomised 558 patients whose metastatic colorectal cancer was stable or responding after six three-weekly cycles of capecitabine, oxaliplatin and bevacizumab to maintenance capecitabine with bevacizumab or to observation, with the induction regimen reintroduced at first progression in both arms. The primary endpoint, progression-free survival 2, was 11.7 months with maintenance against 8.5 months with observation (hazard ratio 0.67, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.81), and quality of life was not compromised. CAIRO3 is why induction followed by maintenance, rather than continuous full-dose chemotherapy, is the shape of first-line treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Registry id: NCT00442637
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Metastatic colorectal cancer stable or better after six cycles of CAPOX and bevacizumab: maintenance capecitabine and bevacizumab against observation
- Sponsor: Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group
- Enrolled: 558
- Result: Progression-free survival 2 of 11.7 against 8.5 months (hazard ratio 0.67), with no loss of quality of life.
- Outcomes: Progression-free survival 2: Maintenance capecitabine and bevacizumab 11.7 months vs Observation 8.5 months, HR 0.67

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00442637: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00442637
- CAIRO3: maintenance treatment with capecitabine and bevacizumab in metastatic colorectal cancer (Lancet 2015): https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62004-3

## Connected records

- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/)
- technologies: [Anti-angiogenic therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/antiangiogenic/), [Cytotoxic chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/cytotoxic-chemotherapy/)
- targets: [VEGF / VEGFR](https://onco.cc/targets/vegf/)
- drugs: [Bevacizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/bevacizumab/), [Capecitabine](https://onco.cc/drugs/capecitabine/), [CAPOX (capecitabine, oxaliplatin)](https://onco.cc/drugs/capox/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/cairo3.json