The Impact Of Biologic Agents In Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer By Race/Ethnicity

156 Background: Biologic agents have shown to improve overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, minority racial/ethnic groups were underrepresented in clinical trials. A retrospective study in a racially-diverse population diagnosed between 2000 - 2011, done by our group, reported a survival benefit with biologics; but, a subgroup analysis suggested that it was restricted to Non-Hispanic whites (NHW) only. This study aims to compare OS in patients with mCRC treated with chemotherapy and biologic agents (CBT) among racial/ethnic groups. Methods: Patients diagnosed with mCRC between 2012-2018 and treated with CBT at 3 cancer centers in the Bronx, NY were identified. Clinical data was collected by retrospective review for demographics (age at metastasis, gender and race/ethnicity categorized as Non-hispanic Black (NHB), NHW or Hispanic), pathological/ treatment characteristics (tumor grade, primary location, chemotherapy regimen, biologic agent). Cases without available race/ethnicity were excluded. OS was measured as time from mCRC diagnosis to death (verified from the National Death Index) and was compared among racial/ethnic groups using Kaplan-Meier curves. Results: A total of 278 patients; of whom 84 (42.4%) were Hispanic, 70 (35.4%) NHB and 44 (22.2%) NHW were included. The median age at diagnosis was 60 years and did not differ among racial/ethnic groups (62.5 vs 55.5 vs 56 years, p=0.07). There was a female predominance in NHB and Hispanics. Bevacizumab was more frequently used in Hispanics and NHB compared to NHW (95.2% vs. 92.9% vs. 77.3%, p=0.003, respectively). There were no differences in the frequency of cetuximab and panitumumab use. Median OS did not differ by racial/ethnic groups (21 in NHW vs. 22.8 in Hispanics and 28.6 months in NHB, p=0.40). Conclusions: Minority groups attain a similar survival benefit from the addition of biologics compared to NHW. Population-based studies are required to confirm these results.