FOLFOX 4 is a chemotherapy regimen, which involves adding another drug to the standard chemotherapy regimen. The addition of the drug increases the survival rate among cancer patients.

The Saint Antoine hospital in Paris have researched and found that if the drug eloxatin is added to the standard chemotherapy regimen, it increases the survival rate among colon cancer patients. As part of the research, patients suffering from stage 2 and 3 colon cancers were split into two groups with a total of 2,246 patients. Nearly half of the patients were given the standard chemotherapy and the remaining half were treated with FOLFOX 4 regimen involving chemotherapy plus eloxatin.

The study went on for four years with the conclusion that people treated with FLOFLZ 4 regimen had less chances of a relapse than the people who had taken the standard chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Therefore, if you have been diagnosed with stage 2 or 3 colon cancer, you can ask your doctors or medical advisors if FOLFOX 4 could be right for your condition.

Research has also shown that Avastin plus FOLFOX 4 chemotherapy has increased the survival rate in metastatic colorectal cancer of the second line. It has been proved that the phase III study of avastin along with FOLFOX 4 chemotherapy regiment is quite beneficial compared to FOLFOX 4 alone to treat second line metastatic colorectal cancer in improving the overall survival of cancer patients. Same like FOXFOX 4, folfox chemotherapy involves using different drugs to treat colon cancer.

An interim analysis report showed that the patients who receive avastin plus FOLFOX 4 have the death rate reduced by 26% with a hazard ratio of 0.74% among patients who were treated with FOLFOX 4 alone. The median survival also showed an improving data of 12.5 months extended life with avastin plus FOLFOX 4 compared to a 10.7 months of survival among those receiving FOLFOX 4 alone with 17% improvement. Before opting for any type of chemotherapy, it is essential for you to know exactly what is chemotherapy treatment.

A study also showed that Avastin could be safely combined with FOLFOX 4 with the same adverse effects that one observed when Avastin was combined with chemotherapy. These trials were sponsored by National Cancer Institute that is a part of the National Institutes of Health. The trials were conducted by a group of researched from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

According to another study a total of 829 patients were enrolled with advanced colorectal cancer who had in the past received a fluorouracil based therapy along with irinotecan either alone or in combination for advance treatments or if the disease had come back within a period of six months from taking the concluding adjuvant treatments of chemotherapy. The patients who were enrolled for this clinical trial were picked randomly to be treated with FOLFOX 4 regimen with avastin and without avastin, and the drug avastin was suspended from use since March 2003.

However, a preliminary study revealed that avastin could be safely used when combined with FOLFOX 4. The results of the trial are yet to be disclosed but it is said that the adverse effects of avastin remained the same when the drug was combined with chemotherapy.

FOLFOX 4 chemotherapy is a good regimen to treat cancer. The results have be quite satisfying but more research still needs to be done in this area in order to know the right combinations of drugs that could be most effective to treat cancers.