BASEL, Switzerland--22 Jan--PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest New Phase III data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Symposium (ASCO GI) continue to demonstrate the excellent efficacy of two of Roche's innovative cancer drugs Xeloda and Avastin, which offer improved survival for patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The NO16966 study showed that: - XELOX (oral Xeloda plus oxaliplatin) is at least as effective as FOLFOX-4 in terms of overall survival - The addition of Avastin to either XELOX or FOLFOX leads to a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival, as determined by an independent review committee (IRC) "Overall, these results confirm the role of XELOX as the most convenient and patient-friendly treatment option in this disease area, which is very encouraging for colorectal cancer patients and healthcare providers," said Professor Jim Cassidy, co-lead investigator for study NO16966 and Cancer Research UK Professor of Oncology and Chair of Medical Oncology, Beatson Oncology Centre, at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. "In addition, the independent review confirms that by adding Avastin to any oxaliplatin-based regimen we can improve progression-free survival times even further, which we knew all along based on the second-line data with FOLFOX plus Avastin." In the treatment of advanced (metastatic) colorectal cancer, these data showed that XELOX reached its primary endpoint: - The chemotherapy combination XELOX is as effective in terms of time patients live without their disease progressing (PFS) as FOLFOX-4. - Overall survival data of the first 634 patients enrolled prior to the introduction of Avastin indicate that XELOX is at least comparable to FOLFOX-4. These data add to the results of previous studies, further endorsing that Xeloda should replace infused 5-FU/leucovorin in colorectal cancer regimens. The IRC which conducted a blinded analysis of the scans confirmed that Avastin reached its primary endpoint: - The benefit provided by Avastin when added to chemotherapy (FOLFOX or XELOX) significantly improved progression-free survival by 43% compared to chemotherapy alone, as assessed by the IRC. A previous analysis presented in October 2006 showed an advantage of 20%. - Specifically there was also a statistically significant improvement in PFS when assessing the addition of Avastin to either the XELOX or FOLFOX subgroup (p